Pool vs Watsco
POOL 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 POOL and WSO compare
Watsco is the larger company, worth 1.7 times as much as Pool ($12.5B against $7.5B).
On earnings, Pool is cheaper: it trades at 18.9× trailing earnings, against 26.1× for Watsco.
Pool grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (2.2% versus −3.0% for Watsco).
Pool keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 7.4% compared with 6.5% at Watsco.
Both pay dividends: Pool yields 2.5% and Watsco 4.2%.
Pool scores higher on the StockData Score (19 against 15 for Watsco), 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 | POOL | WSO |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $7.5B | $12.5B |
| Share price | $205.95 | $303.56 |
| Change, 1 year | −27.4% | −17.6% |
| Change, 5 years | −60.2% | 2.8% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.98 | 1.05 |
| Employees | 6,000 | 7,050 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 19 (better) | 15 |
| Valuation score | 4 (better) | 1 |
| Growth score | 3 (better) | 0 |
| Performance score | 5 | 5 |
| Health score | 3 | 5 (better) |
| Dividend score | 4 | 4 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 18.9× (better) | 26.1× |
| P/S | 1.4× (better) | 1.7× |
| P/B | 5.9× | 4.2× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 15.2× (better) | 17.4× |
| P/FCF | 24.9× | 18.0× (better) |
| FCF yield | 4.0% | 5.6% (better) |
| Fair value | $224.30 | $235.40 |
| Margin of safety | 8.2% (better) | −29.0% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 2.2% (better) | −3.0% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 6.1% | 7.4% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | −2.6% (better) | −10.5% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 0.28% (better) | −11.0% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 3.9% | 11.8% (better) |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 29.6% (better) | 27.5% |
| Operating margin | 10.8% (better) | 9.4% |
| Net margin | 7.4% (better) | 6.5% |
| FCF margin | 5.6% | 9.6% (better) |
| Return on equity | 31.3% (better) | 16.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 17.4% | 19.6% (better) |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 1.06 | 0.04 (better) |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.26 (better) | −0.47 |
| Current ratio | 2.67 | 3.20 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 4.37 | 7.46 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 (better) | 5 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 2.5% | 4.2% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 46.4% | 105% |
| Years of dividend growth | 15 (better) | 12 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 16.7% (better) | 11.1% |
| Buyback yield | 3.6% | – |
| Shareholder yield | 6.1% (better) | 4.2% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 110% | 92.0% |
| Held by insiders | 3.4% | 8.1% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | $5.7M | – |
| Superinvestors holding | 2 | 2 |
| Short interest, % of float | 10.4% | – |
Go deeper
- POOL stock overview
- POOL income statement
- POOL 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.