Ferguson Enterprises vs Watsco
FERG and WSO 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 FERG and WSO compare
Ferguson Enterprises is the larger company, worth 3.7 times as much as Watsco ($46.2B against $12.5B).
On earnings, Ferguson Enterprises is cheaper: it trades at 24.1× trailing earnings, against 26.1× for Watsco.
Ferguson Enterprises grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (4.9% versus −3.0% for Watsco).
Watsco keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 6.5% compared with 6.3% at Ferguson Enterprises.
Both pay dividends: Ferguson Enterprises yields 1.5% and Watsco 4.2%.
Watsco scores higher on the StockData Score (15 against 14 for Ferguson Enterprises), 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 | FERG | WSO |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $46.2B | $12.5B |
| Share price | $238.68 | $303.56 |
| Change, 1 year | −4.2% | −17.6% |
| Change, 5 years | 55.9% | 2.8% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.93 | 1.05 |
| Employees | 35K | 7,050 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 14 | 15 (better) |
| Valuation score | 0 | 1 (better) |
| Growth score | 3 (better) | 0 |
| Performance score | 5 | 5 |
| Health score | 3 | 5 (better) |
| Dividend score | 3 | 4 (better) |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 24.1× (better) | 26.1× |
| P/S | 1.5× (better) | 1.7× |
| P/B | 7.4× | 4.2× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 16.4× (better) | 17.4× |
| P/FCF | 28.0× | 18.0× (better) |
| FCF yield | 3.6% | 5.6% (better) |
| Fair value | $190.85 | $235.40 |
| Margin of safety | −25.1% (better) | −29.0% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 4.9% (better) | −3.0% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 9.1% (better) | 7.4% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 16.0% (better) | −10.5% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 18.8% (better) | −11.0% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 17.1% (better) | 11.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 30.8% (better) | 27.5% |
| Operating margin | 8.7% | 9.4% (better) |
| Net margin | 6.3% | 6.5% (better) |
| FCF margin | 5.3% | 9.6% (better) |
| Return on equity | 33.5% (better) | 16.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 21.4% (better) | 19.6% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.79 | 0.04 (better) |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.45 (better) | −0.47 |
| Current ratio | 1.73 | 3.20 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 5.05 | 7.46 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 (better) | 5 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 1.5% | 4.2% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 33.4% | 105% |
| Years of dividend growth | 1 | 12 (better) |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 17.7% (better) | 11.1% |
| Buyback yield | 1.9% | – |
| Shareholder yield | 3.4% | 4.2% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 96.8% | 92.0% |
| Held by insiders | 0.19% | 8.1% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$1.2M | – |
| Superinvestors holding | 10 (better) | 2 |
| Short interest, % of float | 3.6% | – |
Go deeper
- FERG stock overview
- FERG income statement
- FERG valuation and score
- WSO stock overview
- WSO income statement
- WSO valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.