BCC vs WSO vs AIT Stock Comparison

Boise Cascade, Watsco and Applied Industrial Technologies Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BCC BOISE CASCADE Co
$74.51 -2.8% 1M +3.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.74B
P/E
25.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.46B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Distribution Industrials
2 wins
WSO Watsco Inc
$290.93 -7.1% 1M -18.8% 1Y
Market cap
$11.56B
P/E
26.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.44B
Div. yield
0.04%
Industrial Distribution Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Applied Industrial Technologies leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Applied Industrial Technologies 8, Watsco 2, Boise Cascade 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBCCWSOAITLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.74B $11.56B $11.14B WSO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.9x 26.5x 26.3x BCC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.0x 25.6x 23.3x BCC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.5% +0.3% +8.5% AIT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.6% — 8.4% AIT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 4.6% — 20.0% AIT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.4x — 0.3x AIT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.04% 0.01% WSO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.0% -18.8% +16.0% AIT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.6%/yr +0.1%/yr +25.2%/yr AIT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 38.0% 35.3% 27.8% AIT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 61/100 69/100 AIT

Percentile Scorecard

BCCWSOAIT

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

AxisBCCWSOAIT
Valuation 91 #5 of 46 64 #17 of 46 22 #36 of 46
Growth 5 #37 of 39 34 #26 of 39 61 #16 of 39
Profitability 47 #21 of 39 66 #14 of 39 95 #3 of 39
Financial Health 76 #12 of 47 – 91 #5 of 47
Shareholder Returns 42 #19 of 32 81 #7 of 32 77 #8 of 32
Overall 52 61 69
  • BCC ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • WSO ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • AIT 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

PeriodBCCWSOAITSPY
1 month -2.8%-7.1%-11.3% +0.9%
3 months -4.1%-9.3%-10.5% +5.9%
6 months -5.7%-32.1%+0.9% +8.5%
Year to date +1.2%-13.7%+16.5% +13.3%
1 year +3.0%-18.8%+16.0% +12.4%
3 years -19.9%-15.2%+98.5% +88.1%
3 years, per year -7.1%-5.3%+25.7% +23.5%
5 years +31.6%+0.5%+207.0% +68.2%
5 years, per year +5.6%+0.1%+25.2% +11.0%
10 years +296.1%+113.9%+495.5% +263.4%
10 years, per year +14.8%+7.9%+19.5% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureBCCWSOAITSPY
Volatility, 1Y 38.0%35.3%27.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.3%36.6%31.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.920.990.79 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.08-0.530.58 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -57.3%-50.8%-26.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.1%-36.3%-17.4% -0.9%
52-week high $91.03$456.86$362.17 $779.14
52-week low $65.47$279.97$240.63 $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.

MultipleBCCWSOAIT
P/E now vs peer median 24.8xmedian 25.6x 25.5xmedian 25.6x 25.9xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 1.1x 1.4xmedian 1.1x 2.2xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.3xmedian 13.3x —median 13.3x 17.6xmedian 13.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 22.0x 15.4xmedian 22.0x 25.9xmedian 22.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 2.6x 2.9xmedian 2.6x 5.8xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median -0.61median 2.36 -2.32median 2.36 3.58median 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 monthsBCCWSOAIT
Revenue $6.46B $7.44B $5.06B
Gross profit $1.07B $2.02B $1.54B
Operating income $160.04M $675.29M $564.03M
Net income $105.69M $554.14M $424.12M
Free cash flow $103.31M – $421.86M
EPS (diluted) $3.00 $11.41 $11.41
Cash & equivalents $304.82M $498.70M –
Total debt $448.41M – $282.30M
Shares (diluted) 35.23M 38.19M 37.18M
Enterprise value $1.10B $11.56B $11.03B

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
MetricBCCWSOAIT
P/E 24.8x 25.5x 25.9x
P/FCF 25.2x 15.4x 25.9x
P/Operating cash flow 9.4x 14.7x 24.2x
P/S 0.4x 1.4x 2.2x
P/B 1.3x 2.9x 5.8x
P/Tangible book 1.4x 2.9x 6.9x
EV/EBITDA 8.3x – 17.6x
EV/EBIT 17.1x – 19.7x
EV/Revenue 0.4x 1.4x 2.2x
EV/FCF 26.6x – 26.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 9.9x 14.7x 24.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.61 -2.32 3.58

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBCCWSOAIT
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.5% 0.3% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -3.3% 0.8% 4.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -10.7% -2.4% 8.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -11.5% 0.2% 5.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -53.6% -10.6% 9.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -40.8% -6.4% 5.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -59.7% -10.0% 5.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -43.3% -7.2% 5.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -56.8% -10.8% 8.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -40.9% -11.0% 7.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 0.7% 28.2% -6.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -32.5% 13.9% 5.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 844.4% – -7.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -48.4% – 5.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBCCWSOAIT
Gross margin 16.5% – 30.4%
EBITDA margin 5.1% – 12.4%
Operating margin 2.5% – 11.2%
Pretax margin 2.3% – 11.0%
Net margin 1.6% – 8.4%
FCF margin 1.6% – 8.3%
Operating cash flow margin 4.3% 9.5% 8.9%
Return on equity 5.2% 15.8% 22.6%
Return on assets 3.1% 10.7% 14.2%
Return on invested capital 4.6% – 20.0%
Return on capital employed 5.9% – 22.9%
Asset turnover 1.9x 1.4x 1.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.6x 1.3x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.5% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBCCWSOAIT
Debt / assets 13.2% – 9.5%
Debt / equity 0.2x – 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.4x – 0.3x
Debt / FCF 4.3x – 0.7x
Liabilities / assets 40.2% – 36.8%
Equity / assets 59.8% 67.6% 63.2%
Interest coverage 6.5x – –
Current ratio 2.7x 3.2x 2.9x
Quick ratio 1.3x – 1.7x
Cash ratio 0.5x – 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.21 – 10.05

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBCCWSOAIT
Dividend yield 1.2% 4.4% 0.7%
Net buyback yield 7.9% – 3.1%
Shareholder yield 9.1% 4.4% 3.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 32.5% 92.7% 17.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) 33.2% – 17.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) -85.0% 11.4% 10.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -42.8% 11.4% 11.1%

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.

ConsensusBCCWSOAIT
Forward P/E 20.0xFY2026 25.6xFY2026 23.3xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $3.73FY2026 $11.37FY2026 $12.83FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +5.7%FY2026 -7.2%FY2026 +17.2%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +29.2% +9.1% +7.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.80BFY2026 $7.25BFY2026 $4.91BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +6.3%FY2026 +0.1%FY2026 -1.1%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +4.2% +7.9% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBCCWSOAIT
Held by institutions 96.0% 100.0% 94.4%
Institutions holding 333 785 617
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.4% -0.9% +1.3%
Institutions buying 164 341 326
Institutions selling 128 305 207
Buyers to sellers 1.28 1.12 1.57

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.

BCCWSOAIT
BCC 1.00 0.53 0.46
WSO 0.53 1.00 0.42
AIT 0.46 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BCC, WSO and AIT?

Watsco (WSO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Boise Cascade (BCC) $2.74B, Watsco (WSO) $11.56B, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) $11.14B.

Which stock is cheaper, BCC, WSO and AIT?

Boise Cascade (BCC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Boise Cascade (BCC) 25.9x, Watsco (WSO) 26.5x, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 26.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Boise Cascade (BCC) is cheapest (Boise Cascade (BCC) 20.0x, Watsco (WSO) 25.6x, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 23.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Boise Cascade (BCC) -1.5%, Watsco (WSO) +0.3%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) has the highest net margin (Boise Cascade (BCC) 1.6%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 8.4%). On return on invested capital, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) leads (Boise Cascade (BCC) 4.6%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 20.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) returned the most: Boise Cascade (BCC) +3.0%, Watsco (WSO) -18.8%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +16.0%. Over five years, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) compounded fastest (Boise Cascade (BCC) +5.6%/yr, Watsco (WSO) +0.1%/yr, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +25.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Watsco (WSO) has the highest dividend yield: Boise Cascade (BCC) 0.01%, Watsco (WSO) 0.04%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) has been the steadiest (Boise Cascade (BCC) 38.0%, Watsco (WSO) 35.3%, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 27.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) leads on 8. 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.