Allegion (ALLE) Competitors

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) and Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and risk.

Is AOS or ALLE more profitable?

Allegion has a net margin of 16.15% compared to A. O. Smith's net margin of 13.68%. Allegion's return on equity of 42.62% beat A. O. Smith's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A. O. Smith	13.68%	28.42%	16.52%
Allegion	16.15%	42.62%	14.55%

Which has more risk and volatility, AOS or ALLE?

A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Allegion has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AOS or ALLE a better dividend stock?

A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Allegion pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. A. O. Smith pays out 37.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Allegion pays out 28.3% 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. A. O. Smith has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Allegion has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. A. O. Smith is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in AOS or ALLE?

76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.2% of Allegion shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of A. O. Smith shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Allegion shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, AOS or ALLE?

Allegion has lower revenue, but higher earnings than A. O. Smith. A. O. Smith is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Allegion, 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
A. O. Smith	$3.82B	2.62	$533.60M	$3.59	19.90
Allegion	$3.77B	4.03	$597.50M	$7.20	24.60

Do analysts recommend AOS or ALLE?

A. O. Smith currently has a consensus target price of $77.43, indicating a potential upside of 8.38%. Allegion has a consensus target price of $174.25, indicating a potential downside of 1.62%. Given A. O. Smith's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe A. O. Smith is more favorable than Allegion.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A. O. Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Allegion	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30

Does the media refer more to AOS or ALLE?

In the previous week, Allegion had 16 more articles in the media than A. O. Smith. MarketBeat recorded 29 mentions for Allegion and 13 mentions for A. O. Smith. Allegion's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat A. O. Smith's score of 0.83 indicating that Allegion is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
A. O. Smith	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Allegion	11 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Allegion beats A. O. Smith on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.