ACN vs ECL vs LOPE Stock Comparison

Accenture, Ecolab and Grand Canyon Education Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (ULS) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
ACN Accenture plc
$249.43 +35.8% 1M -0.2% 1Y
Market cap
$151.42B
P/E
19.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$73.10B
Div. yield
0.03%
Consulting Industrials
5 wins
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$288.57 +4.3% 1M +4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$81.05B
P/E
38.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.84B
Div. yield
0.01%
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Accenture leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Accenture 5, Grand Canyon Education 4, Ecolab 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACNECLLOPELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $151.42B $81.05B $4.21B ACN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.4x 38.3x 18.8x LOPE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.2x 36.5x 17.1x ACN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.7% +7.1% +7.0% ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.7% 12.6% 19.6% LOPE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.9% 11.0% — ACN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 2.1x — ACN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.01% 0.00% ACN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.2% +4.9% -26.2% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.8%/yr +5.4%/yr +12.2%/yr LOPE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 50.0% 21.9% 32.1% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 66/100 74/100 LOPE

Percentile Scorecard

ACNECLLOPE

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

AxisACNECLLOPE
Valuation 51 #55 of 112 50 #11 of 21 49 #58 of 112
Growth 48 #50 of 96 83 #4 of 19 43 #55 of 96
Profitability 88 #12 of 93 88 #3 of 17 99 #2 of 93
Financial Health 80 #26 of 126 48 #12 of 22 91 #12 of 126
Shareholder Returns 53 #32 of 67 60 #5 of 11 89 #8 of 67
Overall 64 66 74
  • ACN ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • LOPE ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodACNECLLOPESPY
1 month +35.8%+4.3%+8.1% -1.0%
3 months +69.7%+7.4%+16.4% +2.9%
6 months +39.8%+7.1%-0.4% +6.4%
Year to date -7.0%+9.9%-2.1% +11.4%
1 year -0.2%+4.9%-26.2% +13.1%
3 years -15.8%+80.1%+41.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year -5.6%+21.7%+12.4% +21.5%
5 years -29.5%+30.3%+77.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year -6.8%+5.4%+12.2% +10.9%
10 years +115.8%+149.2%+295.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year +8.0%+9.6%+14.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureACNECLLOPESPY
Volatility, 1Y 50.0%21.9%32.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.4%22.0%36.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.090.48-0.02 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.000.23-0.81 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -70.0%-44.3%-38.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.6%-6.4%-26.2% -2.5%
52-week high $288.54$308.35$220.55 $779.14
52-week low $124.44$245.73$136.72 $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.

MultipleACNECLLOPE
P/E now vs peer median 19.6xmedian 21.0x 38.3xmedian 25.9x 19.0xmedian 21.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 0.9x 4.8xmedian 2.5x 3.7xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.3xmedian 12.3x 22.9xmedian 19.3x 12.4xmedian 12.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.2xmedian 15.1x 43.2xmedian 25.4x 17.6xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 2.4x 8.0xmedian 2.0x 6.4xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 4.78median 1.02 1.72median 1.53 1.73median 1.02

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 monthsACNECLLOPE
Revenue $73.10B $16.84B $1.14B
Gross profit $23.40B $7.43B –
Operating income $10.59B $2.85B $279.71M
Net income $7.79B $2.13B $224.21M
Free cash flow $12.58B $1.87B $242.56M
EPS (diluted) $12.65 $7.50 $8.55
Cash & equivalents $10.17B $5.14B $171.06M
Total debt $5.14B $38.40B –
Shares (diluted) 615.59M 282.20M 26.22M
Enterprise value $110.70B $72.79B $3.10B

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
MetricACNECLLOPE
P/E 19.6x 38.3x 19.0x
P/FCF 13.2x 43.2x 17.6x
P/Operating cash flow 12.6x 26.5x 15.3x
P/S 2.3x 4.8x 3.7x
P/B 5.0x 8.0x 6.4x
P/Tangible book 5.5x 12.2x 8.2x
EV/EBITDA 12.3x 22.9x 12.4x
EV/EBIT 15.2x 31.2x 14.3x
EV/Revenue 2.2x 5.3x 3.5x
EV/FCF 12.8x 47.4x 16.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.2x 29.1x 14.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.78 1.72 1.73

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACNECLLOPE
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.7% 7.1% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.8% 4.5% 7.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.6% 7.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.5% 9.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 0.6% -1.4% -2.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 18.4% 5.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -2.0% -1.0% -5.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.8% 21.3% 5.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 0.4% 0.2% 1.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 22.3% 11.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 20.4% 16.5% -6.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.0% 13.9% 6.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 22.8% 19.1% -7.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.3% 12.2% 7.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACNECLLOPE
Gross margin 32.0% 44.1% –
EBITDA margin 17.9% 23.1% 28.1%
Operating margin 14.5% 16.9% 24.5%
Pretax margin 14.6% 15.6% 25.6%
Net margin 10.7% 12.6% 19.6%
FCF margin 17.2% 11.1% 21.2%
Operating cash flow margin 18.0% 18.1% 24.4%
Return on equity 24.3% 21.2% 32.8%
Return on assets 11.7% 7.8% 23.8%
Return on invested capital 20.9% 11.0% –
Return on capital employed 22.9% 13.3% 33.9%
Asset turnover 1.1x 0.6x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.4x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 2.9% 0.8% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACNECLLOPE
Debt / assets 7.5% 44.0% –
Debt / equity 0.2x 1.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 2.1x –
Debt / FCF 0.4x 7.0x –
Liabilities / assets 52.0% 66.3% 27.2%
Equity / assets 48.0% 33.7% 72.8%
Interest coverage 39.8x 17.6x –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.8x 2.8x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.5x 2.7x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.9x 2.3x
Altman Z-score 4.98 4.15 17.07

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACNECLLOPE
Dividend yield 2.6% 1.0% –
Net buyback yield 2.6% 1.3% 8.0%
Shareholder yield 5.2% 2.3% 8.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 50.5% 37.4% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.3% 42.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.7% 13.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 9.3% –

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.

ConsensusACNECLLOPE
Forward P/E 16.2xFY2027 36.5xFY2026 17.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $15.40FY2027 $7.90FY2026 $9.55FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.2%FY2027 +4.9%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -2.3% +23.3% +25.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $72.33BFY2027 $17.24BFY2026 $1.10BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.5%FY2027 +7.2%FY2026 -0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +5.4% +14.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACNECLLOPE
Held by institutions 73.0% 80.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,898 1,710 447
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.6% +1.4% +1.8%
Institutions buying 957 762 208
Institutions selling 776 679 182
Buyers to sellers 1.23 1.12 1.14

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.

ACNECLLOPE
ACN 1.00 0.11 0.42
ECL 0.11 1.00 0.20
LOPE 0.42 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACN, ECL and LOPE?

Accenture (ACN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Accenture (ACN) $151.42B, Ecolab (ECL) $81.05B, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) $4.21B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACN, ECL and LOPE?

Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Accenture (ACN) 19.4x, Ecolab (ECL) 38.3x, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 18.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Accenture (ACN) is cheapest (Accenture (ACN) 16.2x, Ecolab (ECL) 36.5x, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 17.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ecolab (ECL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Accenture (ACN) +6.7%, Ecolab (ECL) +7.1%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) has the highest net margin (Accenture (ACN) 10.7%, Ecolab (ECL) 12.6%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 19.6%). On return on invested capital, Accenture (ACN) leads (Accenture (ACN) 20.9%, Ecolab (ECL) 11.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Accenture (ACN) -0.2%, Ecolab (ECL) +4.9%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) -26.2%. Over five years, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) compounded fastest (Accenture (ACN) -6.8%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +5.4%/yr, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) +12.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Accenture (ACN) has the highest dividend yield: Accenture (ACN) 0.03%, Ecolab (ECL) 0.01%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 0.00%. Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Accenture (ACN) 50.0%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.9%, Grand Canyon Education (LOPE) 32.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACN, ECL and LOPE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Accenture (ACN) leads on 5. 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.