AOS vs. AIT, ALG, ALLE, AZZ, ENS, FLS, GGG, GWW, IEX, and IR
Should you be buying A. O. Smith stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of A. O. Smith include Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), Alamo Group (ALG), Allegion (ALLE), AZZ (AZZ), Enersys (ENS), Flowserve (FLS), Graco (GGG), W.W. Grainger (GWW), IDEX (IEX), and Ingersoll Rand (IR). These companies are all part of the "industrials" sector.
A. O. Smith vs. Its Competitors
Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) and A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and media sentiment.
A. O. Smith has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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.
In the previous week, Applied Industrial Technologies had 3 more articles in the media than A. O. Smith. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies and 13 mentions for A. O. Smith. Applied Industrial Technologies' average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat A. O. Smith's score of 1.26 indicating that Applied Industrial Technologies is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. A. O. Smith pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. A. O. Smith pays out 38.0% 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 and A. O. Smith has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years. A. O. Smith is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
A. O. Smith has a net margin of 13.74% compared to Applied Industrial Technologies' net margin of 8.64%. A. O. Smith's return on equity of 28.39% beat Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity.
93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.1% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of A. O. Smith shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, A. O. Smith has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Applied Industrial Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $285.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.24%. A. O. Smith has a consensus target price of $75.29, suggesting a potential upside of 8.94%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than A. O. Smith.
Summary
Applied Industrial Technologies beats A. O. Smith on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding AOS 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.
A. O. Smith Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:AOS) was last updated on 7/12/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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