ACA vs WS vs IIIN Stock Comparison

Arcosa, Worthington Steel and Insteel Industries Prices as of Oct 22, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ACA Arcosa, Inc.
$149.18 +1.7% 1M +61.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.33B
P/E
14.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.74B
Div. yield
0.13%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
8 wins
WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$42.25 +16.7% 1M +34.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.16B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
1.51%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
2 wins
IIIN Insteel Industries Inc
$28.05 -4.9% 1M -9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$543.00M
P/E
18.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$739.51M
Div. yield
3.99%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Arcosa leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Arcosa 8, Worthington Steel 2, Insteel Industries 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACAWSIIINLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.33B $2.16B $543.00M ACA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 14.9x -55.2x 18.5x ACA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 33.6x 11.1x 18.7x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +69.1% +14.2% WS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.9% -0.7% — ACA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.5% 0.2% — ACA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 19.9x — ACA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.13% 1.51% 3.99% IIIN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +61.6% +34.3% -9.0% ACA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +23.0%/yr — -6.0%/yr ACA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.7% 47.3% 41.5% ACA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 33/100 68/100 IIIN

Percentile Scorecard

ACAWSIIIN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACAWSIIIN
Valuation 49 #105 of 203 59 #83 of 203 83 #36 of 203
Growth 82 #34 of 187 32 #127 of 187 32 #128 of 187
Profitability 51 #91 of 185 29 #131 of 185 64 #67 of 185
Financial Health 58 #92 of 219 10 #197 of 219 –
Shareholder Returns 41 #90 of 153 34 #102 of 153 95 #9 of 153
Overall 56 33 68
  • ACA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • IIIN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACAWSIIINSPY
1 month +1.7%+16.7%-4.9% -0.8%
3 months +2.9%+15.1%-13.1% +3.5%
6 months +24.1%+12.0%+9.4% +7.0%
Year to date +40.3%+22.0%-11.4% +12.2%
1 year +61.6%+34.3%-9.0% +13.0%
3 years +117.4%—+4.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +29.6%—+1.3% +23.1%
5 years +181.9%—-26.7% +68.6%
5 years, per year +23.0%—-6.0% +11.0%
10 years ——+7.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year ——+0.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureACAWSIIINSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.7%47.3%41.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.9%49.8%51.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.951.640.98 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.940.72-0.22 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -36.7%-51.5%-49.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-13.2%-26.4% -1.8%
52-week high $149.18$48.69$38.11 $779.14
52-week low $92.25$28.10$24.48 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACAWSIIIN
P/E now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 26.0x -55.2xmedian 26.0x 18.5xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x 0.7xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 14.0x 42.0xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 54.9xmedian 21.4x 46.3xmedian 21.4x -58.5xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 2.2x 1.3xmedian 2.2x 1.4xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.75median 1.26 1.70median 1.26 -6.32median 1.26

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACAWSIIIN
Revenue $2.74B $5.30B $739.51M
Gross profit $632.30M $549.30M $75.68M
Operating income $322.70M $6.30M –
Net income $491.40M -$56.50M $29.55M
Free cash flow $133.40M $46.70M –
EPS (diluted) $9.99 $-0.77 $1.52
Cash & equivalents $432.10M $248.20M $37.48M
Total debt $1.44B $2.20B –
Shares (diluted) 49.20M 50.00M 19.49M
Enterprise value $6.31B $2.26B $543.00M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACAWSIIIN
P/E 14.9x -55.2x 18.5x
P/FCF 54.9x 46.3x -58.5x
P/Operating cash flow 21.5x 10.7x 15.0x
P/S 2.7x 0.4x 0.7x
P/B 2.5x 1.3x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 2.7x 1.4x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 42.0x –
EV/EBIT 25.8x 652.7x –
EV/Revenue 3.0x 0.8x 0.7x
EV/FCF 62.4x 88.1x –
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x 20.4x 15.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.75 1.70 -6.32

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACAWSIIIN
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 69.1% 14.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.0% 15.5% 4.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 20.7% 36.2% -19.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.2% 13.4% 5.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 61.3% -95.9% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -5.6% -65.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) 433.0% -144.9% -28.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 20.2% -34.5% -3.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 430.8% -132.7% -27.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% -32.5% -2.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -23.1% 18.9% 33.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.1% -10.4% -36.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -54.9% 50.2% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 54.7% -41.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACAWSIIIN
Gross margin 23.0% 10.4% –
EBITDA margin 19.9% 1.8% –
Operating margin 11.8% 0.1% –
Pretax margin 8.4% -0.2% –
Net margin 17.9% -0.7% –
FCF margin 4.9% 0.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 12.4% 3.8% 4.9%
Return on equity 17.4% -4.0% 7.9%
Return on assets 9.5% -1.4% 6.2%
Return on invested capital 6.5% 0.2% –
Return on capital employed 6.9% 0.3% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 1.3x 1.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.7x -3.6x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 0.2% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACAWSIIIN
Debt / assets 27.1% 36.5% –
Debt / equity 0.5x 1.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 19.9x –
Debt / FCF 10.8x 47.0x –
Liabilities / assets 43.7% 72.8% –
Equity / assets 56.3% 27.2% 79.0%
Interest coverage 3.3x 0.5x –
Current ratio 3.1x 1.8x 3.7x
Quick ratio 2.2x 0.8x –
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 3.18 1.55 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACAWSIIIN
Dividend yield 0.1% 1.5% 4.0%
Net buyback yield 0.2% – –
Shareholder yield 0.4% 1.5% 4.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 2.0% -57.9% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 7.4% 70.0% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.0% 2.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.0% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACAWSIIIN
Forward P/E 33.6xFY2026 11.1xFY2026 18.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.44FY2026 $3.82FY2026 $1.50FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -0.7%FY2026 +71.3%FY2026 -28.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.0% +30.4% +69.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.45BFY2026 $10.90BFY2026 $703.46MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -14.9%FY2026 +217.0%FY2026 +8.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.5% +2.4% +5.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACAWSIIIN
Held by institutions 91.8% 56.3% 82.1%
Institutions holding 426 238 187
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +1.2% +0.9%
Institutions buying 230 112 122
Institutions selling 114 68 48
Buyers to sellers 2.02 1.65 2.54

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACAWSIIIN
ACA 1.00 0.38 0.27
WS 0.38 1.00 0.33
IIIN 0.27 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACA, WS and IIIN?

Arcosa (ACA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Arcosa (ACA) $7.33B, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.16B, Insteel Industries (IIIN) $543.00M.

Which stock is cheaper, ACA, WS and IIIN?

Arcosa (ACA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Arcosa (ACA) 14.9x, Worthington Steel (WS) -55.2x, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 18.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Worthington Steel (WS) is cheapest (Arcosa (ACA) 33.6x, Worthington Steel (WS) 11.1x, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 18.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Arcosa (ACA) +9.7%, Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) +14.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Arcosa (ACA) has the highest net margin (Arcosa (ACA) 17.9%, Worthington Steel (WS) -0.7%). On return on invested capital, Arcosa (ACA) leads (Arcosa (ACA) 6.5%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Arcosa (ACA) returned the most: Arcosa (ACA) +61.6%, Worthington Steel (WS) +34.3%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) -9.0%. Over five years, Arcosa (ACA) compounded fastest (Arcosa (ACA) +23.0%/yr, Insteel Industries (IIIN) -6.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Insteel Industries (IIIN) has the highest dividend yield: Arcosa (ACA) 0.13%, Worthington Steel (WS) 1.51%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 3.99%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Arcosa (ACA) has been the steadiest (Arcosa (ACA) 31.7%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.3%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 41.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACA, WS and IIIN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Arcosa (ACA) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.