Applied Industrial Technologies vs MSC Industrial Direct
AIT and MSM side by side, both in wholesale trade-durable goods. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How AIT and MSM compare
Applied Industrial Technologies is the larger company, worth 1.6 times as much as MSC Industrial Direct ($10.8B against $6.8B).
On earnings, Applied Industrial Technologies is cheaper: it trades at 26.9× trailing earnings, against 29.2× for MSC Industrial Direct.
Applied Industrial Technologies grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (8.8% versus 4.4% for MSC Industrial Direct).
Applied Industrial Technologies keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 8.3% compared with 5.9% at MSC Industrial Direct.
Both pay dividends: Applied Industrial Technologies yields 0.68% and MSC Industrial Direct 2.9%.
Applied Industrial Technologies scores higher on the StockData Score (18 against 11 for MSC Industrial Direct), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | AIT | MSM |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $10.8B | $6.8B |
| Share price | $294.12 | $121.02 |
| Change, 1 year | 15.7% | 43.7% |
| Change, 5 years | 185% | 42.4% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.94 | 0.78 |
| Employees | 6,900 | 7,284 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 18 (better) | 11 |
| Valuation score | 0 | 0 |
| Growth score | 3 (better) | 1 |
| Performance score | 6 (better) | 3 |
| Health score | 5 | 6 (better) |
| Dividend score | 4 (better) | 1 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 26.9× (better) | 29.2× |
| P/S | 2.2× | 1.7× (better) |
| P/B | 5.8× | 4.8× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 19.9× | 16.7× (better) |
| P/FCF | 23.4× (better) | 30.7× |
| PEG | 3.63 | – |
| FCF yield | 4.3% (better) | 3.3% |
| Fair value | $208.50 | $83.84 |
| Margin of safety | −41.1% (better) | −44.3% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 8.8% (better) | 4.4% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 8.9% (better) | 3.4% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 5.5% | 16.5% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 8.2% | 16.9% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 24.4% (better) | −4.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 30.3% | 40.8% (better) |
| Operating margin | 11.1% (better) | 8.5% |
| Net margin | 8.3% (better) | 5.9% |
| FCF margin | 9.3% (better) | 5.6% |
| Return on equity | 22.4% (better) | 16.6% |
| Return on invested capital | 20.8% (better) | 13.6% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.14 (better) | 0.36 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.25 (better) | 1.00 |
| Interest coverage | – | 15.0× |
| Current ratio | 2.58 (better) | 1.55 |
| Altman Z-score | 9.58 (better) | 6.24 |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 (better) | 6 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 0.68% | 2.9% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 17.5% | – |
| Years of dividend growth | 16 | – |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 8.9% | – |
| Buyback yield | 2.9% (better) | 0.21% |
| Shareholder yield | 3.6% (better) | 3.1% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 96.6% | 83.4% |
| Held by insiders | 0.95% | 12.5% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$15.8M | $6.8M (better) |
| Superinvestors holding | 1 | – |
| Short interest, % of float | 2.3% | 5.0% |
Go deeper
- AIT stock overview
- AIT income statement
- AIT valuation and score
- MSM stock overview
- MSM income statement
- MSM valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.