Griffon (GFF) Competitors

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) and Griffon (NYSE:GFF) are both mid-cap industrial products companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, community ranking, media sentiment, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AOS or GFF?

A. O. Smith received 209 more outperform votes than Griffon when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 66.58% of users gave Griffon an outperform vote while only 61.46% of users gave A. O. Smith an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
A. O. Smith	Outperform Votes 472 61.46%	Underperform Votes 296 38.54%
Griffon	Outperform Votes 263 66.58%	Underperform Votes 132 33.42%

Is AOS or GFF a better dividend stock?

A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Griffon pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. A. O. Smith pays out 37.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Griffon pays out 14.7% 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. A. O. Smith is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer AOS or GFF?

In the previous week, A. O. Smith had 7 more articles in the media than Griffon. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for A. O. Smith and 5 mentions for Griffon. Griffon's average media sentiment score of 1.53 beat A. O. Smith's score of 0.59 indicating that Griffon is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
A. O. Smith	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Griffon	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

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

76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.2% of Griffon shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.2% of Griffon shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, AOS or GFF?

A. O. Smith has higher revenue and earnings than Griffon. Griffon is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than A. O. Smith, 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	18.28
Griffon	$2.61B	1.27	$209.90M	$4.90	14.23

Do analysts rate AOS or GFF?

A. O. Smith presently has a consensus price target of $80.86, indicating a potential upside of 21.85%. Griffon has a consensus price target of $98.75, indicating a potential upside of 41.66%. Given Griffon's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Griffon is more favorable than A. O. Smith.

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
Griffon	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50

Is AOS or GFF more profitable?

A. O. Smith has a net margin of 13.98% compared to Griffon's net margin of 9.13%. Griffon's return on equity of 120.61% 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%
Griffon	9.13%	120.61%	11.15%

Which has more volatility & risk, AOS or GFF?

A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Griffon has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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