A. O. Smith (AOS) Competitors

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) and Lennox International (NYSE:LII) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Which has more risk and volatility, AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lennox International has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of AOS or LII?

76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of Lennox International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of Lennox International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is AOS or LII more profitable?

Lennox International has a net margin of 15.11% compared to A. O. Smith's net margin of 13.98%. Lennox International's return on equity of 126.79% beat A. O. Smith's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A. O. Smith	13.98%	28.87%	17.16%
Lennox International	15.11%	126.79%	24.89%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith received 80 more outperform votes than Lennox International when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.93% of users gave A. O. Smith an outperform vote while only 46.85% of users gave Lennox International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
A. O. Smith	Outperform Votes 474 60.93%	Underperform Votes 304 39.07%
Lennox International	Outperform Votes 394 46.85%	Underperform Votes 447 53.15%

Is AOS or LII a better dividend stock?

A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Lennox International pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. A. O. Smith pays out 38.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lennox International pays out 23.2% 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. A. O. Smith has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Lennox International has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years. A. O. Smith is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts rate AOS or LII?

A. O. Smith presently has a consensus price target of $76.17, indicating a potential upside of 15.91%. Lennox International has a consensus price target of $583.71, indicating a potential upside of 5.22%. Given A. O. Smith's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe A. O. Smith is more favorable than Lennox International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A. O. Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Lennox International	4 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.07

Which has higher valuation & earnings, AOS or LII?

Lennox International has higher revenue and earnings than A. O. Smith. A. O. Smith is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lennox International, 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	$3.80B	2.46	$533.60M	$3.58	18.36
Lennox International	$5.37B	3.67	$806.90M	$22.44	24.72

Does the media prefer AOS or LII?

In the previous week, A. O. Smith had 9 more articles in the media than Lennox International. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for A. O. Smith and 2 mentions for Lennox International. Lennox International's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat A. O. Smith's score of 1.33 indicating that Lennox International 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)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Lennox International	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Lennox International beats A. O. Smith on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.