AIT vs. HLIO, NDSN, AZZ, BDC, CDRE, CR, GEF, GGG, IEX, and IR
Should you be buying Applied Industrial Technologies stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Applied Industrial Technologies include Helios Technologies (HLIO), Nordson (NDSN), AZZ (AZZ), Belden (BDC), Cadre (CDRE), Crane (CR), Greif (GEF), Graco (GGG), IDEX (IEX), and Ingersoll Rand (IR). These companies are all part of the "industrials" sector.
Applied Industrial Technologies vs. Its Competitors
Helios Technologies (NASDAQ:HLIO) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, profitability and analyst recommendations.
Applied Industrial Technologies has a net margin of 8.61% compared to Helios Technologies' net margin of 4.57%. Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity of 21.78% beat Helios Technologies' return on equity.
In the previous week, Applied Industrial Technologies had 9 more articles in the media than Helios Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies and 1 mentions for Helios Technologies. Applied Industrial Technologies' average media sentiment score of 0.39 beat Helios Technologies' score of 0.00 indicating that Applied Industrial Technologies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
Helios Technologies has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Applied Industrial Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Helios Technologies. Applied Industrial Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Helios Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Helios Technologies presently has a consensus price target of $51.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.66%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus price target of $285.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.63%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than Helios Technologies.
94.7% of Helios Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Helios Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Helios Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.36 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%. Helios Technologies pays out 34.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Applied Industrial Technologies pays out 18.2% 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. Applied Industrial Technologies has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Applied Industrial Technologies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Applied Industrial Technologies beats Helios Technologies on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get Applied Industrial Technologies News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for AIT and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding AIT and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Applied Industrial Technologies Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools
This page (NYSE:AIT) was last updated on 10/14/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
