WESCO International, Inc. vs WATSCO INC, two Distribution stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
WESCO and Watsco are both building-and-industrial distributors, but they sit at opposite ends of quality: Watsco earns a 15.43% return on equity at a 6.85% margin with almost no debt, WESCO 13.24% at 2.79% with heavy leverage, 1.13 turns. Watsco trades richer, 33.7 times earnings against 24.7, and pays a 2.85% dividend against none, while converting far more free cash, 4.45% against 1.25%. The pair prices a clean, high-margin HVAC distributor against a leveraged, thin-margin electrical one: Watsco earns more on every sale, carries no meaningful debt, and rewards holders with income, WESCO offers a cheaper multiple built on acquisition debt, and Watsco is the higher-quality name by a clear margin.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | WCC | WSO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $334.98 | $384.10 |
| Market cap | $16.6B | $14.6B |
| Sector | Distribution | Distribution |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +20.3% | +19.8% |
| P/E | 23.8 | 31.5 |
| P/B | 3.25 | 4.54 |
| P/S | 0.68 | 2.01 |
| EV/EBITDA | 15.0 | 20.0 |
| Revenue growth | +11.2% | -4.4% |
| Gross margin | — | 27.9% |
| Operating margin | 4.8% | 7.2% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | 6.8% |
| Return on equity | 13.2% | 15.4% |
| Return on assets | 4.0% | 10.7% |
| Return on invested capital | 9.3% | 16.0% |
| FCF yield | 1.3% | 4.8% |
| Dividend yield | — | 3.0% |
| Debt / equity | 1.13 | 0.11 |
| Current ratio | 2.12 | 3.34 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 3.16 | 8.60 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 5 / 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.