A. O. Smith (AOS) Competitors

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) and Lennox International (NYSE:LII) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, community ranking, risk and media sentiment.

Which has better valuation and earnings, AOS or LII?

Lennox International has higher revenue and earnings than A. O. Smith. A. O. Smith is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lennox International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
A. O. Smith	$3.82B	2.50	$533.60M	$3.63	18.24
Lennox International	$5.34B	3.83	$806.90M	$22.54	25.54

Is AOS or LII a better dividend stock?

A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Lennox International pays an annual dividend of $4.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. A. O. Smith pays out 37.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lennox International pays out 20.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. A. O. Smith has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Lennox International has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. A. O. Smith is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith received 80 more outperform votes than Lennox International when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.30% of users gave A. O. Smith an outperform vote while only 47.12% of users gave Lennox International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
A. O. Smith	Outperform Votes 472 61.30%	Underperform Votes 298 38.70%
Lennox International	Outperform Votes 392 47.12%	Underperform Votes 440 52.88%

Does the media prefer AOS or LII?

In the previous week, A. O. Smith had 10 more articles in the media than Lennox International. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for A. O. Smith and 9 mentions for Lennox International. A. O. Smith's average media sentiment score of 1.53 beat Lennox International's score of 1.24 indicating that A. O. Smith is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
A. O. Smith	17 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Lennox International	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AOS or LII more profitable?

Lennox International has a net margin of 15.11% compared to A. O. Smith's net margin of 13.98%. Lennox International's return on equity of 126.79% beat A. O. Smith's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A. O. Smith	13.98%	28.87%	17.16%
Lennox International	15.11%	126.79%	24.89%

Do analysts prefer AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith currently has a consensus price target of $80.86, indicating a potential upside of 22.12%. Lennox International has a consensus price target of $614.62, indicating a potential upside of 6.78%. Given A. O. Smith's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe A. O. Smith is more favorable than Lennox International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A. O. Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Lennox International	4 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in AOS or LII?

76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of Lennox International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of Lennox International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lennox International has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lennox International beats A. O. Smith on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.