APPLIED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. vs Ferguson Enterprises Inc., two Distribution stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Applied Industrial Technologies and Ferguson are two of the better distributors, both earning outsized returns for a thin-margin business. Ferguson's return on equity is the higher, 37.78% against Applied's 21.71%, its scale in plumbing and HVAC supply beating Applied's industrial-parts niche. Applied nets a bit more per sale, 8.34% against 6.87%, but Ferguson converts more free cash, 4.45% against 3.46%, and yields a 1.37% dividend. Ferguson is three times the size at $46B and trades cheaper, 21 times earnings against Applied's 31.8. Both carry modest debt. The pair prices two quality distributors: Ferguson the larger, higher-return, cheaper name with real scale advantages, Applied the smaller specialist earning strong margins in industrial components, and on the numbers Ferguson looks like the better value.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | AIT | FERG |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $336.94 | $238.57 |
| Market cap | $12.7B | $46.5B |
| Sector | Distribution | Distribution |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +17.6% |
| P/E | 31.8 | 21.2 |
| P/B | 6.83 | 7.91 |
| P/S | 2.62 | 1.44 |
| EV/EBITDA | 23.4 | 14.4 |
| Revenue growth | +7.6% | +6.7% |
| Gross margin | 30.4% | 31.0% |
| Operating margin | 11.0% | 8.2% |
| Net margin | 8.3% | 6.9% |
| Return on equity | 21.7% | 37.8% |
| Return on assets | 13.5% | 12.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 17.4% | 22.7% |
| FCF yield | 3.5% | 4.5% |
| Dividend yield | 0.5% | 1.4% |
| Debt / equity | 0.20 | 0.70 |
| Current ratio | 2.95 | 1.78 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 9.46 | 5.15 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.