Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Competitors

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Which has better earnings & valuation, ITW or AIT?

Illinois Tool Works has higher revenue and earnings than Applied Industrial Technologies. Illinois Tool Works 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
Illinois Tool Works	$15.90B	4.77	$3.49B	$11.41	22.80
Applied Industrial Technologies	$4.56B	2.14	$392.99M	$10.12	25.52

Do analysts prefer ITW or AIT?

Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus target price of $260.67, suggesting a potential upside of 0.18%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus target price of $285.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.35%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than Illinois Tool Works.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Illinois Tool Works	3 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.83
Applied Industrial Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is ITW or AIT more profitable?

Illinois Tool Works has a net margin of 21.31% compared to Applied Industrial Technologies' net margin of 8.61%. Illinois Tool Works' return on equity of 90.89% beat Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Illinois Tool Works	21.31%	90.89%	19.17%
Applied Industrial Technologies	8.61%	21.78%	12.74%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in ITW or AIT?

79.8% of Illinois Tool Works shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Illinois Tool Works shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to ITW or AIT?

In the previous week, Illinois Tool Works had 18 more articles in the media than Applied Industrial Technologies. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Illinois Tool Works and 3 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies. Applied Industrial Technologies' average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat Illinois Tool Works' score of 1.35 indicating that Applied Industrial Technologies is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Illinois Tool Works	17 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Applied Industrial Technologies	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, ITW or AIT?

Illinois Tool Works has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ITW or AIT a better dividend stock?

Illinois Tool Works pays an annual dividend of $6.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Illinois Tool Works pays out 56.4% 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. Illinois Tool Works has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years and Applied Industrial Technologies has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Illinois Tool Works is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Illinois Tool Works beats Applied Industrial Technologies on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.