AIT vs RS vs WSO Stock Comparison

Applied Industrial Technologies, Reliance and Watsco Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (POOL) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
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
WSO Watsco Inc
$323.18 -0.7% 1M -10.0% 1Y
Market cap
$11.69B
P/E
26.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.28B
Div. yield
0.04%
Industrial Distribution Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Reliance leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Reliance 6, Applied Industrial Technologies 3, Watsco 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAITRSWSOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.17B $21.54B $11.69B RS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.4x 24.1x 26.5x RS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.7x 16.3x 28.4x RS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.8% +15.4% -3.0% RS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.3% 5.7% 6.1% AIT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 19.2% 10.5% 14.9% AIT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.9x -0.5x WSO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% 0.04% WSO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +21.9% +51.8% -10.0% RS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +26.0%/yr +22.7%/yr +1.8%/yr AIT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.1% 25.0% 34.7% RS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 54/100 69/100 WSO

Percentile Scorecard

AITRSWSO

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

AxisAITRSWSO
Valuation 20 #37 of 46 38 #29 of 46 64 #17 of 46
Growth 58 #17 of 39 40 #24 of 39 42 #23 of 39
Profitability 95 #3 of 40 56 #18 of 40 77 #10 of 40
Financial Health 88 #7 of 49 81 #10 of 49 94 #4 of 49
Shareholder Returns 77 #8 of 32 55 #15 of 32 68 #11 of 32
Overall 68 54 69
  • AIT ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • RS ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • WSO 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

PeriodAITRSWSOSPY
1 month -5.0%+8.1%-0.7% -1.0%
3 months -8.7%+1.9%-10.7% +2.9%
6 months +8.1%+18.2%-26.7% +6.4%
Year to date +23.5%+43.9%-4.1% +11.4%
1 year +21.9%+51.8%-10.0% +13.1%
3 years +106.3%+68.3%-6.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year +27.3%+19.0%-2.4% +21.5%
5 years +216.7%+178.4%+9.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year +26.0%+22.7%+1.8% +10.9%
10 years +607.4%+508.0%+129.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +21.6%+19.8%+8.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAITRSWSOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.1%25.0%34.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.9%25.0%35.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.810.591.02 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.842.08-0.29 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.5%-22.9%-50.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.5%-3.0%-29.3% -2.5%
52-week high $362.17$428.49$456.86 $779.14
52-week low $240.63$265.93$279.97 $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.

MultipleAITRSWSO
P/E now vs peer median 28.6xmedian 25.9x 23.7xmedian 25.9x 27.9xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.0x 1.3xmedian 1.0x 1.6xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.2xmedian 13.0x 15.0xmedian 13.0x 15.3xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.3xmedian 23.0x 39.3xmedian 23.0x 16.5xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 6.3xmedian 2.4x 2.9xmedian 2.4x 3.3xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 3.87median 2.37 -1.99median 2.37 -2.79median 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 monthsAITRSWSO
Revenue $4.97B $15.81B $7.28B
Gross profit $1.51B $4.46B $2.00B
Operating income $549.47M $1.24B $684.85M
Net income $414.53M $896.10M $560.52M
Free cash flow $460.52M $539.50M $697.14M
EPS (diluted) $10.95 $17.40 $11.56
Cash & equivalents – $235.40M $364.19M
Total debt $1.77B $6.16B $1.54B
Shares (diluted) 37.86M 51.38M 38.19M
Enterprise value $12.04B $20.58B $9.38B

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
MetricAITRSWSO
P/E 28.6x 23.7x 27.9x
P/FCF 25.3x 39.3x 16.5x
P/Operating cash flow 24.1x 24.9x 15.7x
P/S 2.3x 1.3x 1.6x
P/B 6.3x 2.9x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 7.5x 3.3x 3.5x
EV/EBITDA 19.2x 15.0x 15.3x
EV/EBIT 21.5x 18.3x 16.3x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 1.4x 1.5x
EV/FCF 25.6x 42.0x 16.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x 26.6x 15.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.87 -1.99 -2.79

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAITRSWSO
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.8% 15.4% -3.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.0% 0.2% 0.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.9% 11.1% -3.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.4% -2.5% 0.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 10.2% 23.3% -11.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.1% -15.2% -5.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 5.5% 21.0% -10.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.1% -16.1% -6.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.2% 24.8% -11.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.4% -11.9% -10.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -1.7% -30.8% 71.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.1% -26.3% 21.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.0% -35.2% 76.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.2% -31.8% 22.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAITRSWSO
Gross margin 30.3% 28.2% 27.5%
EBITDA margin 12.4% 9.6% 10.0%
Operating margin 11.1% 7.8% 9.4%
Pretax margin 11.0% 7.5% 9.7%
Net margin 8.3% 5.7% 6.1%
FCF margin 9.3% 3.4% 9.6%
Operating cash flow margin 9.7% 5.4% 10.1%
Return on equity 22.3% 12.3% 16.8%
Return on assets 13.8% 8.2% 11.5%
Return on invested capital 19.2% 10.5% 14.9%
Return on capital employed 23.0% 12.6% 18.1%
Asset turnover 1.7x 1.4x 1.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.0x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% 0.4% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAITRSWSO
Debt / assets 8.7% 14.9% 2.4%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.2x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.9x -0.5x
Debt / FCF 0.6x 3.1x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 38.1% 33.6% 31.7%
Equity / assets 61.9% 66.4% 68.3%
Interest coverage – 19.5x –
Current ratio 2.6x 4.3x 3.2x
Quick ratio 1.6x 2.1x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 10.03 6.52 7.08

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAITRSWSO
Dividend yield 0.6% 1.2% 4.0%
Net buyback yield 2.7% 2.3% -0.5%
Shareholder yield 3.3% 3.5% 3.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.5% 28.7% 89.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) 15.8% 47.6% 71.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) 14.0% 2.7% 11.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 10.7% 4.2% 11.4%

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.

ConsensusAITRSWSO
Forward P/E 24.7xFY2027 16.3xFY2026 28.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.83FY2027 $25.46FY2026 $11.39FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.2%FY2027 +78.5%FY2026 -7.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.8% +1.8% +9.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.91BFY2027 $16.78BFY2026 $7.22BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.1%FY2027 +17.4%FY2026 -0.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +10.5% +6.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAITRSWSO
Held by institutions 94.4% 82.3% 100.0%
Institutions holding 617 688 785
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% +1.0% -0.9%
Institutions buying 326 341 341
Institutions selling 207 229 305
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.49 1.12

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.

AITRSWSO
AIT 1.00 0.43 0.44
RS 0.43 1.00 0.29
WSO 0.44 0.29 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AIT, RS and WSO?

Reliance (RS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) $12.17B, Reliance (RS) $21.54B, Watsco (WSO) $11.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, AIT, RS and WSO?

Reliance (RS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 29.4x, Reliance (RS) 24.1x, Watsco (WSO) 26.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Reliance (RS) is cheapest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 24.7x, Reliance (RS) 16.3x, Watsco (WSO) 28.4x). 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%, Reliance (RS) +15.4%, Watsco (WSO) -3.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) has the highest net margin (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 8.3%, Reliance (RS) 5.7%, Watsco (WSO) 6.1%). On return on invested capital, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) leads (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 19.2%, Reliance (RS) 10.5%, Watsco (WSO) 14.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Reliance (RS) returned the most: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +21.9%, Reliance (RS) +51.8%, Watsco (WSO) -10.0%. Over five years, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) compounded fastest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +26.0%/yr, Reliance (RS) +22.7%/yr, Watsco (WSO) +1.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Watsco (WSO) has the highest dividend yield: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 0.01%, Reliance (RS) 0.01%, Watsco (WSO) 0.04%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Reliance (RS) has been the steadiest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 26.1%, Reliance (RS) 25.0%, Watsco (WSO) 34.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.