AIT vs FERG vs RS Stock Comparison

Applied Industrial Technologies, Ferguson Enterprises and Reliance Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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RS Reliance, Inc.
$437.05 +11.6% 1M +56.0% 1Y
Market cap
$22.26B
P/E
20.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
1.13%
Industrial Distribution Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Reliance leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Reliance 5, Applied Industrial Technologies 4, Ferguson Enterprises 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAITFERGRSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $10.93B $44.80B $22.26B FERG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.9x 22.1x 20.1x RS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.3x 21.6x 17.2x RS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +5.2% +24.7% RS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.4% 6.5% 6.4% AIT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.0% 21.7% 12.5% FERG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.3x 1.0x 0.8x AIT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.66% 1.54% 1.13% FERG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +16.0% -6.6% +56.0% RS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.2%/yr +8.8%/yr +24.5%/yr AIT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.8% 29.8% 25.1% RS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 66/100 58/100 AIT

Percentile Scorecard

AITFERGRS

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

AxisAITFERGRS
Valuation 22 #36 of 46 42 #27 of 46 49 #24 of 46
Growth 61 #16 of 39 76 #10 of 39 50 #20 of 39
Profitability 95 #3 of 39 87 #6 of 39 58 #17 of 39
Financial Health 91 #5 of 47 50 #24 of 47 85 #8 of 47
Shareholder Returns 77 #8 of 32 74 #9 of 32 48 #17 of 32
Overall 69 66 58
  • AIT ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • FERG 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

PeriodAITFERGRSSPY
1 month -11.3%+1.5%+11.6% +0.9%
3 months -10.5%+2.0%+8.3% +5.9%
6 months +0.9%-9.9%+21.6% +8.5%
Year to date +16.5%+3.7%+51.3% +13.3%
1 year +16.0%-6.6%+56.0% +12.4%
3 years +98.5%+52.1%+76.0% +88.1%
3 years, per year +25.7%+15.0%+20.7% +23.5%
5 years +207.0%+52.6%+199.0% +68.2%
5 years, per year +25.2%+8.8%+24.5% +11.0%
10 years +495.5%+335.4%+549.6% +263.4%
10 years, per year +19.5%+15.9%+20.6% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureAITFERGRSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.8%29.8%25.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.1%30.9%25.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.791.130.60 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.58-0.222.23 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.5%-43.6%-22.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.4%-13.8%0.0% -0.9%
52-week high $362.17$267.71$437.05 $779.14
52-week low $240.63$214.24$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.

MultipleAITFERGRS
P/E now vs peer median 25.9xmedian 25.6x 22.1xmedian 25.6x 20.1xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.1x 1.4xmedian 1.1x 1.3xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.6xmedian 13.3x 15.1xmedian 13.3x 13.1xmedian 13.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.9xmedian 22.0x 19.8xmedian 22.0x 45.3xmedian 22.0x
P/B now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 2.6x 7.6xmedian 2.6x 2.9xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median 3.58median 2.36 —median 2.36 -5.90median 2.36

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 monthsAITFERGRS
Revenue $5.06B $31.35B $17.37B
Gross profit $1.54B $9.73B $4.88B
Operating income $564.03M $2.82B $1.53B
Net income $424.12M $2.03B $1.11B
Free cash flow $421.86M $2.26B $491.90M
EPS (diluted) $11.41 $10.42 $21.55
Cash & equivalents – $820.00M $246.00M
Total debt $282.30M $4.13B $1.64B
Shares (diluted) 37.18M 194.80M 51.39M
Enterprise value $10.82B $42.02B $21.33B

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
MetricAITFERGRS
P/E 25.9x 22.1x 20.1x
P/FCF 25.9x 19.8x 45.3x
P/Operating cash flow 24.2x 17.1x 27.8x
P/S 2.2x 1.4x 1.3x
P/B 5.8x 7.6x 2.9x
P/Tangible book 6.9x 8.6x 3.3x
EV/EBITDA 17.6x 15.1x 13.1x
EV/EBIT 19.7x 17.1x 15.5x
EV/Revenue 2.2x 1.5x 1.4x
EV/FCF 26.3x 21.2x 48.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.6x 18.4x 29.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.58 – -5.90

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAITFERGRS
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 5.2% 24.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.4% – 4.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.3% 7.5% 20.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% – 1.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 9.7% 17.6% 54.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.0% – -6.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 5.6% 31.6% 51.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.3% – -7.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.7% 34.4% 56.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.2% – -3.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.8% 35.9% -22.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% – -25.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -7.3% 42.8% -25.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% – -31.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAITFERGRS
Gross margin 30.4% 31.0% 28.1%
EBITDA margin 12.4% 10.2% 10.4%
Operating margin 11.2% 9.0% 8.8%
Pretax margin 11.0% 8.3% 8.4%
Net margin 8.4% 6.5% 6.4%
FCF margin 8.3% 7.2% 2.8%
Operating cash flow margin 8.9% 8.3% 4.6%
Return on equity 22.6% 34.0% 14.7%
Return on assets 14.2% 11.4% 9.7%
Return on invested capital 20.0% 21.7% 12.5%
Return on capital employed 22.9% 23.4% 15.2%
Asset turnover 1.7x 1.8x 1.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.3x 0.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.3% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAITFERGRS
Debt / assets 9.5% 23.2% 14.1%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.7x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.3x 1.0x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 0.7x 1.8x 3.3x
Liabilities / assets 36.8% 67.0% 33.4%
Equity / assets 63.2% 33.0% 66.6%
Interest coverage – – 22.6x
Current ratio 2.9x 1.8x 4.1x
Quick ratio 1.7x 0.8x 2.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 10.05 5.42 6.73

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAITFERGRS
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.5% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 3.1% 1.9% 2.2%
Shareholder yield 3.8% 3.4% 3.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.4% – 23.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) 17.5% – 52.4%
Dividend growth (1Y) 10.6% – 2.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 11.1% – 3.4%

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.

ConsensusAITFERGRS
Forward P/E 23.3xFY2027 21.6xFY2026 17.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.83FY2027 $10.68FY2026 $25.46FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.2%FY2027 +7.4%FY2026 +78.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.8% +20.5% +1.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.91BFY2027 $34.30BFY2026 $16.78BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.1%FY2027 +11.5%FY2026 +17.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% -0.7% +10.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAITFERGRS
Held by institutions 94.4% 96.3% 82.3%
Institutions holding 617 937 688
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% +2.1% +1.0%
Institutions buying 326 477 341
Institutions selling 207 343 229
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.39 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.

AITFERGRS
AIT 1.00 0.54 0.37
FERG 0.54 1.00 0.37
RS 0.37 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AIT, FERG and RS?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) $10.93B, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $44.80B, Reliance (RS) $22.26B.

Which stock is cheaper, AIT, FERG and RS?

Reliance (RS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 25.9x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.1x, Reliance (RS) 20.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Reliance (RS) is cheapest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 23.3x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.6x, Reliance (RS) 17.2x). 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) +8.5%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, Reliance (RS) +24.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) has the highest net margin (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 8.4%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%, Reliance (RS) 6.4%). On return on invested capital, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 20.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%, Reliance (RS) 12.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Reliance (RS) returned the most: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +16.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -6.6%, Reliance (RS) +56.0%. Over five years, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) compounded fastest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +25.2%/yr, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +8.8%/yr, Reliance (RS) +24.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has the highest dividend yield: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 0.66%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 1.54%, Reliance (RS) 1.13%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Reliance (RS) has been the steadiest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 27.8%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 29.8%, Reliance (RS) 25.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AIT, FERG 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 5. 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.