Air Lease (AL) Competitors

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) and Air Lease (NYSE:AL) are both trading companies & distributors companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Which has more risk and volatility, WSO or AL?

Watsco has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air Lease has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WSO or AL a better dividend stock?

Watsco pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Air Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. 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. Air Lease pays out 15.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watsco has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Air Lease has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Does the media prefer WSO or AL?

In the previous week, Watsco had 7 more articles in the media than Air Lease. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Watsco and 12 mentions for Air Lease. Air Lease's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Watsco's score of 0.98 indicating that Air Lease is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Watsco	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Air Lease	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is WSO or AL more profitable?

Air Lease has a net margin of 24.77% compared to Watsco's net margin of 6.98%. Watsco's return on equity of 17.13% beat Air Lease's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Watsco	6.98%	17.13%	11.86%
Air Lease	24.77%	8.04%	1.91%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, WSO or AL?

Watsco has higher revenue and earnings than Air Lease. Air Lease 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	$7.62B	2.43	$536.29M	$13.01	35.15
Air Lease	$2.81B	2.38	$427.70M	$5.72	10.45

Do analysts prefer WSO or AL?

Watsco currently has a consensus target price of $484.17, indicating a potential upside of 5.87%. Air Lease has a consensus target price of $57.43, indicating a potential downside of 3.89%. Given Watsco's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Watsco is more favorable than Air Lease.

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
Air Lease	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in WSO or AL?

89.7% of Watsco shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.6% of Air Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of Watsco shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Air Lease shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Watsco beats Air Lease on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.