AIT vs BCC vs RS Stock Comparison

Applied Industrial Technologies, Boise Cascade and Reliance Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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BCC BOISE CASCADE Co
$77.76 0.0% 1M +8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.65B
P/E
25.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.46B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Distribution Industrials
1 win
RS Reliance, Inc.
$415.62 +8.1% 1M +51.8% 1Y
Market cap
$21.54B
P/E
24.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.81B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Distribution Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Reliance leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Reliance 6, Applied Industrial Technologies 5, Boise Cascade 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAITBCCRSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.17B $2.65B $21.54B RS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.4x 25.1x 24.1x RS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.7x 20.5x 16.3x RS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.8% -1.5% +15.4% RS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.3% 1.6% 5.7% AIT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 19.2% 4.6% 10.5% AIT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.4x 0.9x AIT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% BCC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +21.9% +8.0% +51.8% RS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +26.0%/yr +5.9%/yr +22.7%/yr AIT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.1% 37.9% 25.0% RS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 52/100 54/100 AIT

Percentile Scorecard

AITBCCRS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAITBCCRS
Valuation 20 #37 of 46 87 #7 of 46 38 #29 of 46
Growth 58 #17 of 39 8 #36 of 39 40 #24 of 39
Profitability 95 #3 of 40 49 #21 of 40 56 #18 of 40
Financial Health 88 #7 of 49 75 #13 of 49 81 #10 of 49
Shareholder Returns 77 #8 of 32 42 #19 of 32 55 #15 of 32
Overall 68 52 54
  • AIT ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • BCC ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • RS ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAITBCCRSSPY
1 month -5.0%0.0%+8.1% -1.0%
3 months -8.7%-0.2%+1.9% +2.9%
6 months +8.1%-7.6%+18.2% +6.4%
Year to date +23.5%+5.7%+43.9% +11.4%
1 year +21.9%+8.0%+51.8% +13.1%
3 years +106.3%-15.2%+68.3% +79.4%
3 years, per year +27.3%-5.3%+19.0% +21.5%
5 years +216.7%+33.3%+178.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +26.0%+5.9%+22.7% +10.9%
10 years +607.4%+231.2%+508.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +21.6%+12.7%+19.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAITBCCRSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.1%37.9%25.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.9%30.9%25.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.810.930.59 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.840.212.08 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.5%-57.3%-22.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.5%-14.6%-3.0% -2.5%
52-week high $362.17$91.03$428.49 $779.14
52-week low $240.63$65.47$265.93 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAITBCCRS
P/E now vs peer median 28.6xmedian 25.9x 25.9xmedian 25.9x 23.7xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.0x 0.4xmedian 1.0x 1.3xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.2xmedian 13.0x 8.7xmedian 13.0x 15.0xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.3xmedian 23.0x 26.3xmedian 23.0x 39.3xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 6.3xmedian 2.4x 1.3xmedian 2.4x 2.9xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 3.87median 2.37 -0.63median 2.37 -1.99median 2.37

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAITBCCRS
Revenue $4.97B $6.46B $15.81B
Gross profit $1.51B $1.07B $4.46B
Operating income $549.47M $160.04M $1.24B
Net income $414.53M $105.69M $896.10M
Free cash flow $460.52M $103.31M $539.50M
EPS (diluted) $10.95 $3.00 $17.40
Cash & equivalents – $304.82M $235.40M
Total debt $1.77B $1.79B $6.16B
Shares (diluted) 37.86M 35.23M 51.38M
Enterprise value $12.04B $1.02B $20.58B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAITBCCRS
P/E 28.6x 25.9x 23.7x
P/FCF 25.3x 26.3x 39.3x
P/Operating cash flow 24.1x 9.8x 24.9x
P/S 2.3x 0.4x 1.3x
P/B 6.3x 1.3x 2.9x
P/Tangible book 7.5x 1.4x 3.3x
EV/EBITDA 19.2x 8.7x 15.0x
EV/EBIT 21.5x 17.9x 18.3x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 0.4x 1.4x
EV/FCF 25.6x 27.7x 42.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x 10.4x 26.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.87 -0.63 -1.99

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAITBCCRS
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.8% -1.5% 15.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.0% -3.3% 0.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.9% -10.7% 11.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.4% -11.5% -2.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 10.2% -53.6% 23.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.1% -40.8% -15.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 5.5% -59.7% 21.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.1% -43.3% -16.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.2% -56.8% 24.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.4% -40.9% -11.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -1.7% 0.7% -30.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.1% -32.5% -26.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.0% 844.4% -35.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.2% -48.4% -31.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAITBCCRS
Gross margin 30.3% 16.5% 28.2%
EBITDA margin 12.4% 5.1% 9.6%
Operating margin 11.1% 2.5% 7.8%
Pretax margin 11.0% 2.3% 7.5%
Net margin 8.3% 1.6% 5.7%
FCF margin 9.3% 1.6% 3.4%
Operating cash flow margin 9.7% 4.3% 5.4%
Return on equity 22.3% 5.2% 12.3%
Return on assets 13.8% 3.1% 8.2%
Return on invested capital 19.2% 4.6% 10.5%
Return on capital employed 23.0% 5.9% 12.6%
Asset turnover 1.7x 1.9x 1.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 2.6x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% 0.2% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAITBCCRS
Debt / assets 8.7% 13.2% 14.9%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.2x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.4x 0.9x
Debt / FCF 0.6x 4.3x 3.1x
Liabilities / assets 38.1% 40.2% 33.6%
Equity / assets 61.9% 59.8% 66.4%
Interest coverage – 6.5x 19.5x
Current ratio 2.6x 2.7x 4.3x
Quick ratio 1.6x 1.3x 2.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.5x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 10.03 4.26 6.52

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAITBCCRS
Dividend yield 0.6% 1.1% 1.2%
Net buyback yield 2.7% 7.6% 2.3%
Shareholder yield 3.3% 8.7% 3.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.5% 32.5% 28.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) 15.8% 33.2% 47.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) 14.0% -85.0% 2.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 10.7% -42.8% 4.2%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAITBCCRS
Forward P/E 24.7xFY2027 20.5xFY2026 16.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.83FY2027 $3.80FY2026 $25.46FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.2%FY2027 +7.6%FY2026 +78.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.8% +32.1% +1.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.91BFY2027 $6.80BFY2026 $16.78BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.1%FY2027 +6.3%FY2026 +17.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +4.2% +10.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAITBCCRS
Held by institutions 94.4% 96.0% 82.3%
Institutions holding 617 333 688
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% -0.4% +1.0%
Institutions buying 326 164 341
Institutions selling 207 128 229
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.28 1.49

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AITBCCRS
AIT 1.00 0.51 0.43
BCC 0.51 1.00 0.31
RS 0.43 0.31 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AIT, BCC and RS?

Reliance (RS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) $12.17B, Boise Cascade (BCC) $2.65B, Reliance (RS) $21.54B.

Which stock is cheaper, AIT, BCC and RS?

Reliance (RS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 29.4x, Boise Cascade (BCC) 25.1x, Reliance (RS) 24.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Reliance (RS) is cheapest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 24.7x, Boise Cascade (BCC) 20.5x, Reliance (RS) 16.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Reliance (RS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +8.8%, Boise Cascade (BCC) -1.5%, Reliance (RS) +15.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) has the highest net margin (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 8.3%, Boise Cascade (BCC) 1.6%, Reliance (RS) 5.7%). On return on invested capital, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) leads (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 19.2%, Boise Cascade (BCC) 4.6%, Reliance (RS) 10.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Reliance (RS) returned the most: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +21.9%, Boise Cascade (BCC) +8.0%, Reliance (RS) +51.8%. Over five years, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) compounded fastest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +26.0%/yr, Boise Cascade (BCC) +5.9%/yr, Reliance (RS) +22.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Boise Cascade (BCC) has the highest dividend yield: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 0.01%, Boise Cascade (BCC) 0.01%, Reliance (RS) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Reliance (RS) has been the steadiest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 26.1%, Boise Cascade (BCC) 37.9%, Reliance (RS) 25.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AIT, BCC and RS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Reliance (RS) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.