Analyzing Watsco (NYSE:WSO.B) & Rexel (OTCMKTS:RXLSF)

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.4% of Rexel shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of Watsco shares are held by institutional investors. 13.8% of Watsco shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Rexel and Watsco”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rexel	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.76	54.95
Watsco	$7.24 billion	1.72	$496.99 million	$11.53	26.16

Watsco has higher revenue and earnings than Rexel. Watsco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rexel, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Rexel pays an annual dividend of $0.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Watsco pays an annual dividend of $13.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Rexel pays out 98.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Watsco pays out 114.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Rexel and Watsco’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rexel	N/A	N/A	N/A
Watsco	6.53%	14.40%	10.17%

Summary

Watsco beats Rexel on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rexel

Rexel S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in distribution of low and ultra-low voltage electrical products and services for the residential, commercial, and industrial markets in France, Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. The company offers smart cameras, sensors, controllers, and monitoring software; light sources, lights, and control switches; climate control products, including heat pumps, air conditioning, and water heaters; fire alarms, surveillance equipment, access controls devices, and emergency lightings; and connection cables, and switches and routers, as well as enclosures, mounts, and racks. It also provides solar modules and inverters; connected lighting, intelligent home system, home control touch screen, and smart thermostat products; residential chargers, commercial stations, and charging cables for electric vehicles; electric motors, variable speed drives, programmable logic controllers, and computers and operator interface; and fastening systems, electrical power and control, and valves and instrumentation products. The company offers products, services, and solutions in the fields of technical supply, automation, and energy management related to the construction, renovation, maintenance, and production. It operates in 21 countries. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment; and related parts and supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. It offers residential ducted and ductless air conditioners; gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment. The company also provides parts comprising replacement compressors, evaporator coils, motors, and other component parts; and supplies, such as thermostats, insulation material, refrigerants, ductwork, grills, registers, sheet metal, tools, copper tubing, concrete pads, tapes, adhesives, and other ancillary supplies. It serves contractors and dealers that service the replacement and new construction markets for residential and light commercial central air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration systems. In addition, the company exports its products to Latin America and the Caribbean Basin. Watsco, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.