Watsco (WSO) Competitors $530.16 +46.47 (+9.61%) Closing price 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$535.88 +5.72 (+1.08%) As of 07:55 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrends WSO vs. GWW, URI, FAST, AIT, WCC, BECN, GATX, AL, RUSHA, and MSMShould you be buying Watsco stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Watsco include W.W. Grainger (GWW), United Rentals (URI), Fastenal (FAST), Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), WESCO International (WCC), Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN), GATX (GATX), Air Lease (AL), Rush Enterprises (RUSHA), and MSC Industrial Direct (MSM). These companies are all part of the "trading companies & distributors" industry. Watsco vs. W.W. Grainger United Rentals Fastenal Applied Industrial Technologies WESCO International Beacon Roofing Supply GATX Air Lease Rush Enterprises MSC Industrial Direct W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) and Watsco (NYSE:WSO) are both large-cap industrial products companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, community ranking and valuation. Do institutionals & insiders 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. 9.5% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of Watsco shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Does the MarketBeat Community prefer GWW or WSO? W.W. Grainger received 213 more outperform votes than Watsco when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 55.41% of users gave Watsco an outperform vote while only 53.37% of users gave W.W. Grainger an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformW.W. GraingerOutperform Votes54653.37% Underperform Votes47746.63% WatscoOutperform Votes33355.41% Underperform Votes26844.59% 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 $10.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. W.W. Grainger pays out 21.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Watsco pays out 83.5% 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 increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years and Watsco has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Does the media favor GWW or WSO? In the previous week, Watsco had 1 more articles in the media than W.W. Grainger. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Watsco and 23 mentions for W.W. Grainger. W.W. Grainger's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat Watsco's score of 1.36 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 19 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 2 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Watsco 19 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 4 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Do analysts prefer GWW or WSO? W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus price target of $1,148.56, indicating a potential upside of 11.87%. Watsco has a consensus price target of $488.33, indicating a potential downside of 6.65%. Given W.W. Grainger's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe W.W. Grainger is more favorable than Watsco.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score W.W. Grainger 1 Sell rating(s) 9 Hold rating(s) 2 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.23Watsco 0 Sell rating(s) 3 Hold rating(s) 2 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.40 Which has more risk and volatility, GWW or WSO? W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Watsco has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its share price is 5% less volatile than 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 6.99%. 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 6.99%17.77%12.28% Which has stronger earnings & valuation, 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$17.17B2.91$1.91B$38.7126.52Watsco$7.28B2.90$536.34M$12.9440.43 SummaryW.W. Grainger beats Watsco on 14 of the 21 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$21.11B$19.33B$8.87B$20.34BDividend Yield2.28%2.12%1.92%3.67%P/E Ratio40.4019.9121.8445.93Price / Sales2.902.3369.6516.29Price / Cash32.6427.1622.6420.33Price / Book7.887.426.155.73Net Income$536.34M$935.89M$520.55M$1.00B7 Day Performance10.83%4.24%-0.40%0.48%1 Month Performance5.27%2.89%-1.53%1.44%1 Year Performance37.14%12.27%49.56%16.11% Watsco Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)WSOWatsco3.7202 of 5 stars$530.16+9.6%$488.33-7.9%+27.2%$21.41B$7.28B40.977,425Earnings ReportNews CoveragePositive NewsGap UpHigh Trading VolumeGWWW.W. Grainger4.3196 of 5 stars$1,038.42+0.5%$1,148.56+10.6%+9.8%$50.57B$17.17B26.8326,000Short Interest ↓Positive NewsURIUnited Rentals4.8186 of 5 stars$747.16+0.9%$814.08+9.0%+14.0%$48.80B$15.35B19.2827,900Positive NewsFASTFastenal4.2038 of 5 stars$73.72-0.2%$76.91+4.3%+6.5%$42.23B$7.55B36.6823,201Short Interest ↑AITApplied Industrial Technologies4.1592 of 5 stars$263.76+0.6%$291.43+10.5%+40.2%$10.12B$4.48B26.726,500Short Interest ↓Positive NewsWCCWESCO International2.8112 of 5 stars$185.32-0.3%$215.88+16.5%+35.1%$9.08B$22.39B14.8420,000Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastHigh Trading VolumeBECNBeacon Roofing Supply3.8752 of 5 stars$118.54-1.0%$120.17+1.4%+40.2%$7.34B$9.12B20.268,063GATXGATX2.2963 of 5 stars$164.70-0.4%$161.00-2.2%+30.2%$5.85B$1.59B21.202,020Short Interest ↓ALAir Lease4.9037 of 5 stars$45.95-0.2%$57.60+25.4%+20.4%$5.12B$2.68B10.47150Positive NewsRUSHARush Enterprises4.522 of 5 stars$59.67-3.1%$69.00+15.6%+29.3%$4.72B$7.93B15.838,040Earnings ReportNews CoveragePositive NewsMSMMSC Industrial Direct3.8285 of 5 stars$80.58+0.5%$83.80+4.0%-18.0%$4.50B$3.80B19.237,423News CoveragePositive News Related Companies and Tools Related Companies GWW Competitors URI Competitors FAST Competitors AIT Competitors WCC Competitors BECN Competitors GATX Competitors AL Competitors RUSHA Competitors MSM Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Bank Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Toy Stocks Growth Stocks Airline Stocks Chinese Stocks EV Charging Stocks Defense Stocks Lithium Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks This page (NYSE:WSO) was last updated on 2/18/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersTrump doesn’t give a damnPorter Stansberry: “I met with Trump’s biggest backers… they’re scooping up these 10 stocks” I recently met...Porter & Company | SponsoredGrab This Altcoin Before Trump's Crypto AnnouncementGrab This Altcoin Before Trump's Crypto Announcement Whatever it is, I expect it to pump the market, which ...Crypto 101 Media | SponsoredCollect $7k per month from Tesla’s SECRET dividendTesla doesn't pay a traditional dividend.... 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Legendary quant analyst Marc Chaikin says in 50 y...Chaikin Analytics | Sponsored Adding Choose a watchlist: Watchlist Adding You have already added five stocks to your watchlist. Upgrade to MarketBeat All Access to add more stocks to your watchlist. Adding Watsco, Inc. Please log in to your account or sign up in order to add this asset to your watchlist. Share Watsco With A Colleague Link copied to clipboard. Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. 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