Tetra Tech (TTEK) Competitors

Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and dividends.

Is TTEK or AIT a better dividend stock?

Tetra Tech pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Tetra Tech pays out 32.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Applied Industrial Technologies pays out 18.5% 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. Tetra Tech has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years and Applied Industrial Technologies has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Do analysts rate TTEK or AIT?

Tetra Tech currently has a consensus price target of $41.67, suggesting a potential upside of 12.22%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus price target of $285.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.35%. Given Tetra Tech's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Tetra Tech is more favorable than Applied Industrial Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Tetra Tech	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Applied Industrial Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more volatility and risk, TTEK or AIT?

Tetra Tech has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is TTEK or AIT more profitable?

Applied Industrial Technologies has a net margin of 8.64% compared to Tetra Tech's net margin of 3.94%. Tetra Tech's return on equity of 24.70% beat Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Tetra Tech	3.94%	24.70%	9.99%
Applied Industrial Technologies	8.64%	22.01%	12.83%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, TTEK or AIT?

Applied Industrial Technologies has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Tetra Tech. Applied Industrial Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Tetra Tech, 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
Tetra Tech	$5.20B	1.88	$333.38M	$0.80	46.41
Applied Industrial Technologies	$4.48B	2.34	$385.76M	$9.96	27.69

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of TTEK or AIT?

93.9% of Tetra Tech shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Tetra Tech shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to TTEK or AIT?

In the previous week, Tetra Tech had 4 more articles in the media than Applied Industrial Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Tetra Tech and 13 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies. Tetra Tech's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Applied Industrial Technologies' score of 1.12 indicating that Tetra Tech is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Tetra Tech	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Applied Industrial Technologies	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Applied Industrial Technologies beats Tetra Tech on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.