A. O. Smith (AOS) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate AOS or AIT?

A. O. Smith currently has a consensus target price of $77.43, suggesting a potential upside of 7.93%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus target price of $287.86, suggesting a potential upside of 11.17%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than A. O. Smith.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A. O. Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Applied Industrial Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Do insiders & institutionals believe in AOS or AIT?

76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of A. O. Smith shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are held 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.

Which has more volatility and risk, AOS or AIT?

A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, AOS or AIT?

A. O. Smith has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Applied Industrial Technologies. A. O. Smith is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Applied Industrial Technologies, 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	2.63	$533.60M	$3.59	19.98
Applied Industrial Technologies	$4.56B	2.14	$392.99M	$10.12	25.59

Is AOS or AIT more profitable?

A. O. Smith has a net margin of 13.68% compared to Applied Industrial Technologies' net margin of 8.61%. A. O. Smith's return on equity of 28.42% beat Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A. O. Smith	13.68%	28.42%	16.52%
Applied Industrial Technologies	8.61%	21.78%	12.74%

Is AOS or AIT a better dividend stock?

A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. A. O. Smith pays out 37.9% 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. A. O. Smith has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Applied Industrial Technologies 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.

Does the media prefer AOS or AIT?

In the previous week, Applied Industrial Technologies had 3 more articles in the media than A. O. Smith. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies and 22 mentions for A. O. Smith. A. O. Smith's average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat Applied Industrial Technologies' score of 0.78 indicating that A. O. Smith is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
A. O. Smith	14 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Applied Industrial Technologies	14 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Applied Industrial Technologies beats A. O. Smith on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.