AZZ (AZZ) Competitors

Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) and AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FELE or AZZ?

Franklin Electric has higher revenue and earnings than AZZ. AZZ is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Franklin Electric, 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
Franklin Electric	$2.02B	2.05	$180.31M	$3.82	23.76
AZZ	$1.58B	2.11	$128.83M	$8.63	12.88

Is FELE or AZZ more profitable?

AZZ has a net margin of 16.40% compared to Franklin Electric's net margin of 8.85%. AZZ's return on equity of 15.54% beat Franklin Electric's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Franklin Electric	8.85%	14.08%	9.72%
AZZ	16.40%	15.54%	7.51%

Which has more risk and volatility, FELE or AZZ?

Franklin Electric has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AZZ has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its share price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FELE or AZZ?

Franklin Electric currently has a consensus target price of $94.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.56%. AZZ has a consensus target price of $108.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.80%. Given Franklin Electric's higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Franklin Electric is more favorable than AZZ.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin Electric	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
AZZ	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.70

Is FELE or AZZ a better dividend stock?

Franklin Electric pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. AZZ pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Franklin Electric pays out 27.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AZZ pays out 9.3% 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. Franklin Electric has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years. Franklin Electric is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of FELE or AZZ?

80.0% of Franklin Electric shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.9% of AZZ shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Franklin Electric shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of AZZ shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor FELE or AZZ?

In the previous week, AZZ had 29 more articles in the media than Franklin Electric. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for AZZ and 11 mentions for Franklin Electric. Franklin Electric's average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat AZZ's score of 0.74 indicating that Franklin Electric is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Franklin Electric	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AZZ	12 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

AZZ beats Franklin Electric on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.