Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WSO or AIT?

Watsco received 68 more outperform votes than Applied Industrial Technologies when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.60% of users gave Applied Industrial Technologies an outperform vote while only 54.92% of users gave Watsco an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Watsco	Outperform Votes 335 54.92%	Underperform Votes 275 45.08%
Applied Industrial Technologies	Outperform Votes 267 59.60%	Underperform Votes 181 40.40%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, WSO or AIT?

Watsco has higher revenue and earnings than Applied Industrial Technologies. Applied Industrial Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Watsco, 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
Watsco	$7.58B	2.37	$536.34M	$13.01	34.07
Applied Industrial Technologies	$4.50B	1.95	$385.76M	$9.96	23.10

Is WSO or AIT more profitable?

Applied Industrial Technologies has a net margin of 8.62% compared to Watsco's net margin of 7.04%. Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity of 22.37% beat Watsco's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Watsco	7.04%	17.59%	12.09%
Applied Industrial Technologies	8.62%	22.37%	13.03%

Does the media refer more to WSO or AIT?

In the previous week, Watsco and Watsco both had 7 articles in the media. Watsco's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Applied Industrial Technologies' score of 1.38 indicating that Watsco is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Watsco	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Applied Industrial Technologies	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in WSO or AIT?

89.7% of Watsco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of Watsco shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, WSO or AIT?

Watsco has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend WSO or AIT?

Watsco currently has a consensus price target of $486.67, suggesting a potential upside of 9.81%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus price target of $285.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.90%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than Watsco.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Watsco	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14
Applied Industrial Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Is WSO or AIT a better dividend stock?

Watsco pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Watsco pays out 92.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Applied Industrial Technologies pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watsco has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Applied Industrial Technologies has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Summary

Watsco and Applied Industrial Technologies tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.