Watsco (WSO) Competitors

Carrier Global (NYSE:CARR) and Watsco (NYSE:WSO) are both large-cap construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in CARR or WSO?

91.0% of Carrier Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of Watsco shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Carrier Global shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.8% of Watsco shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, CARR or WSO?

Carrier Global has higher revenue and earnings than Watsco. Carrier Global 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
Carrier Global	$22.49B	2.23	$5.60B	$4.59	12.81
Watsco	$7.62B	2.12	$536.29M	$13.04	30.53

Is CARR or WSO more profitable?

Carrier Global has a net margin of 18.33% compared to Watsco's net margin of 7.08%. Carrier Global's return on equity of 17.83% beat Watsco's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carrier Global	18.33%	17.83%	6.85%
Watsco	7.08%	16.96%	11.69%

Which has more volatility & risk, CARR or WSO?

Carrier Global has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Watsco has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CARR or WSO a better dividend stock?

Carrier Global pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Watsco pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Carrier Global pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watsco pays out 92.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Carrier Global has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Watsco has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Watsco is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer CARR or WSO?

In the previous week, Carrier Global had 5 more articles in the media than Watsco. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Carrier Global and 13 mentions for Watsco. Carrier Global's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Watsco's score of 0.84 indicating that Carrier Global is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Carrier Global	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Watsco	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer CARR or WSO?

Carrier Global presently has a consensus target price of $79.72, suggesting a potential upside of 35.54%. Watsco has a consensus target price of $480.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.58%. Given Carrier Global's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Carrier Global is more favorable than Watsco.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carrier Global	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58
Watsco	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14

Summary

Carrier Global beats Watsco on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.