Watsco (WSO) Competitors $459.61 +4.00 (+0.88%) As of 04/30/2025 03:59 PM Eastern Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock WSO vs. GWW, FAST, URI, AIT, BECN, WCC, GATX, AL, MSM, and RUSHAShould you be buying Watsco stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Watsco include W.W. Grainger (GWW), Fastenal (FAST), United Rentals (URI), Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN), WESCO International (WCC), GATX (GATX), Air Lease (AL), MSC Industrial Direct (MSM), and Rush Enterprises (RUSHA). These companies are all part of the "trading companies & distributors" industry. Watsco vs. W.W. Grainger Fastenal United Rentals Applied Industrial Technologies Beacon Roofing Supply WESCO International GATX Air Lease MSC Industrial Direct Rush Enterprises W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) and Watsco (NYSE:WSO) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability. Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of GWW or WSO? 80.7% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.7% of Watsco shares are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% 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 is poised for long-term growth. Does the MarketBeat Community prefer GWW or WSO? W.W. Grainger received 212 more outperform votes than Watsco when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 55.10% of users gave Watsco an outperform vote while only 53.37% of users gave W.W. Grainger an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformW.W. GraingerOutperform Votes54753.37% Underperform Votes47846.63% WatscoOutperform Votes33555.10% Underperform Votes27344.90% Which has better valuation and earnings, GWW or WSO? W.W. Grainger has higher revenue and earnings than Watsco. W.W. Grainger is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Watsco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioW.W. Grainger$17.17B2.88$1.91B$38.7126.45Watsco$7.58B2.45$536.34M$13.0135.33 Which has more volatility & risk, GWW or WSO? W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Watsco has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500. Is GWW or WSO more profitable? W.W. Grainger has a net margin of 11.12% compared to Watsco's net margin of 7.04%. W.W. Grainger's return on equity of 52.43% beat Watsco's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets W.W. Grainger11.12% 52.43% 22.15% Watsco 7.04%17.59%12.09% Does the media favor GWW or WSO? In the previous week, Watsco had 20 more articles in the media than W.W. Grainger. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Watsco and 23 mentions for W.W. Grainger. W.W. Grainger's average media sentiment score of 1.22 beat Watsco's score of 0.36 indicating that W.W. Grainger is being referred to more favorably in the media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment W.W. Grainger 14 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 7 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Watsco 15 Very Positive mention(s) 3 Positive mention(s) 11 Neutral mention(s) 6 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Neutral Is GWW or WSO a better dividend stock? W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $8.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Watsco pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. W.W. Grainger pays out 21.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. W.W. Grainger has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years and Watsco has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Do analysts rate GWW or WSO? W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus target price of $1,116.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.01%. Watsco has a consensus target price of $480.83, suggesting a potential upside of 4.62%. Given W.W. Grainger's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe W.W. Grainger is more favorable than Watsco.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score W.W. Grainger 2 Sell rating(s) 8 Hold rating(s) 2 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.15Watsco 0 Sell rating(s) 6 Hold rating(s) 1 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.14 SummaryW.W. Grainger beats Watsco on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Watsco News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for WSO and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?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.Skip Chart WSO vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricWatscoHardware, & plumbing & heating equipment & supplies IndustryConstruction SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$18.57B$17.75B$8.25B$18.97BDividend Yield2.63%2.32%2.12%4.03%P/E Ratio34.6917.9315.3932.71Price / Sales2.452.0170.0527.84Price / Cash36.0529.1921.4017.53Price / Book6.066.074.094.47Net Income$536.34M$935.89M$535.55M$1.02B7 Day Performance2.92%1.95%1.78%2.26%1 Month Performance-8.16%-2.73%61.48%-2.86%1 Year Performance2.66%-2.71%75.55%5.48% Watsco Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)WSOWatsco2.8797 of 5 stars$459.61+0.9%$480.83+4.6%+2.7%$18.57B$7.58B34.697,280Analyst RevisionGWWW.W. Grainger3.1373 of 5 stars$979.84-2.3%$1,130.89+15.4%+11.1%$47.24B$17.17B25.3126,000Dividend IncreaseNews CoveragePositive NewsFASTFastenal3.0134 of 5 stars$80.29-1.6%$79.10-1.5%+19.2%$46.04B$7.61B39.9522,400Insider TradeStock SplitURIUnited Rentals4.8478 of 5 stars$571.74-3.3%$729.79+27.6%-5.4%$37.35B$15.35B14.7524,600Insider TradePositive NewsAITApplied Industrial Technologies4.0253 of 5 stars$214.36-3.3%$287.14+34.0%+32.6%$8.23B$4.48B21.726,100Positive NewsBECNBeacon Roofing Supply3.5766 of 5 stars$123.65-0.2%$121.47-1.8%N/A$7.64B$9.76B21.147,480Short Interest ↑Analyst RevisionWCCWESCO International4.4517 of 5 stars$146.22-3.3%$219.43+50.1%+6.7%$7.13B$21.82B11.1920,000Positive NewsGATXGATX2.7438 of 5 stars$146.03-0.7%$161.00+10.3%+19.4%$5.21B$1.59B18.791,900Dividend AnnouncementALAir Lease4.5442 of 5 stars$41.46-2.3%$55.67+34.3%-6.8%$4.63B$2.73B12.45150Upcoming EarningsPositive NewsMSMMSC Industrial Direct3.6409 of 5 stars$75.99-1.7%$82.20+8.2%-16.2%$4.23B$3.75B18.146,990Positive NewsRUSHARush Enterprises4.7913 of 5 stars$49.77-3.9%$69.00+38.6%+16.1%$3.94B$7.80B13.348,040Earnings ReportPositive NewsHigh Trading Volume Related Companies and Tools Related Companies GWW Competitors FAST Competitors URI Competitors AIT Competitors BECN Competitors WCC Competitors GATX Competitors AL Competitors MSM Competitors RUSHA Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:WSO) was last updated on 5/1/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersHow to invest in Elon Musk’s Optimus before its launchElon Musk is set to completely take over the AI industry with Optimus… A breakthrough AI-powered robot that El...InvestorPlace | SponsoredIs he more powerful than Trump? 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