Patrick Industries (PATK) Competitors

Patrick Industries (NASDAQ:PATK) and A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) are both mid-cap construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Which has more volatility and risk, PATK or AOS?

Patrick Industries has a beta of 2.05, meaning that its stock price is 105% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.28, meaning that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor PATK or AOS?

A. O. Smith received 139 more outperform votes than Patrick Industries when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.73% of users gave Patrick Industries an outperform vote while only 61.00% of users gave A. O. Smith an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Patrick Industries	Outperform Votes 335 62.73%	Underperform Votes 199 37.27%
A. O. Smith	Outperform Votes 474 61.00%	Underperform Votes 303 39.00%

Is PATK or AOS more profitable?

A. O. Smith has a net margin of 13.98% compared to Patrick Industries' net margin of 3.72%. A. O. Smith's return on equity of 28.87% beat Patrick Industries' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Patrick Industries	3.72%	13.25%	4.80%
A. O. Smith	13.98%	28.87%	17.16%

Is PATK or AOS a better dividend stock?

Patrick Industries pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Patrick Industries pays out 38.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. A. O. Smith pays out 38.0% 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. Patrick Industries has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and A. O. Smith has increased 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.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of PATK or AOS?

93.3% of Patrick Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of Patrick Industries shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to PATK or AOS?

In the previous week, A. O. Smith had 6 more articles in the media than Patrick Industries. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for A. O. Smith and 14 mentions for Patrick Industries. A. O. Smith's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat Patrick Industries' score of 1.31 indicating that A. O. Smith is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Patrick Industries	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
A. O. Smith	17 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate PATK or AOS?

Patrick Industries presently has a consensus target price of $96.29, suggesting a potential upside of 10.46%. A. O. Smith has a consensus target price of $76.17, suggesting a potential upside of 13.51%. Given A. O. Smith's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe A. O. Smith is more favorable than Patrick Industries.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Patrick Industries	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
A. O. Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, PATK or AOS?

A. O. Smith has higher revenue and earnings than Patrick Industries. A. O. Smith is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Patrick Industries, 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
Patrick Industries	$3.79B	0.77	$138.40M	$4.17	20.90
A. O. Smith	$3.80B	2.51	$533.60M	$3.58	18.74

Summary

A. O. Smith beats Patrick Industries on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.