MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) Competitors

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) and Watsco (NYSE:WSO) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, MSM or WSO?

Watsco has higher revenue and earnings than MSC Industrial Direct. MSC Industrial Direct is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Watsco, 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
MSC Industrial Direct	$3.75B	1.22	$258.59M	$3.79	21.61
Watsco	$7.58B	2.37	$536.34M	$13.01	34.15

Does the media favor MSM or WSO?

In the previous week, Watsco had 6 more articles in the media than MSC Industrial Direct. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Watsco and 1 mentions for MSC Industrial Direct. MSC Industrial Direct's average media sentiment score of 1.54 beat Watsco's score of 1.39 indicating that MSC Industrial Direct is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
MSC Industrial Direct	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Watsco	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend MSM or WSO?

MSC Industrial Direct currently has a consensus target price of $86.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.99%. Watsco has a consensus target price of $486.67, indicating a potential upside of 9.55%. Given Watsco's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Watsco is more favorable than MSC Industrial Direct.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MSC Industrial Direct	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Watsco	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14

Is MSM or WSO more profitable?

Watsco has a net margin of 7.04% compared to MSC Industrial Direct's net margin of 6.21%. MSC Industrial Direct's return on equity of 17.80% beat Watsco's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MSC Industrial Direct	6.21%	17.80%	10.02%
Watsco	7.04%	17.59%	12.09%

Is MSM or WSO a better dividend stock?

MSC Industrial Direct pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Watsco pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. MSC Industrial Direct pays out 89.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Watsco pays out 92.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. MSC Industrial Direct has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Watsco has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. MSC Industrial Direct is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MSM or WSO?

MSC Industrial Direct received 66 more outperform votes than Watsco when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 54.92% of users gave Watsco an outperform vote while only 52.49% of users gave MSC Industrial Direct an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
MSC Industrial Direct	Outperform Votes 401 52.49%	Underperform Votes 363 47.51%
Watsco	Outperform Votes 335 54.92%	Underperform Votes 275 45.08%

Which has more volatility & risk, MSM or WSO?

MSC Industrial Direct has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Watsco has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of MSM or WSO?

79.3% of MSC Industrial Direct shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of Watsco shares are held by institutional investors. 18.3% of MSC Industrial Direct shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.8% of Watsco shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Watsco beats MSC Industrial Direct on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.