ACU vs WST vs RVP Stock Comparison

Acme United, West Pharmaceutical Services and Retractable Technologies Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ACU Acme United Corp
$67.81 +6.5% 1M +76.6% 1Y
Market cap
$260.56M
P/E
24.8x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Acme United leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Acme United 6, West Pharmaceutical Services 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACUWSTRVPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $260.56M $29.11B $17.10M WST
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.8x 45.6x -4.7x ACU
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.7x 43.5x — ACU
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +12.6% -11.2% WST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 18.8% -10.6% WST
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 19.3% -31.4% WST
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.3x 2.6x WST
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +76.6% +45.9% -35.5% ACU
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.9%/yr -0.7%/yr -42.8%/yr ACU
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.7% 31.3% 40.2% ACU
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 70/100 53/100 ACU

Percentile Scorecard

ACUWSTRVP

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

AxisACUWSTRVP
Valuation 87 #31 of 227 50 #115 of 227 72 #64 of 227
Growth – 49 #112 of 218 34 #145 of 218
Profitability – 94 #14 of 202 40 #121 of 202
Financial Health 59 #96 of 233 78 #52 of 233 64 #84 of 233
Shareholder Returns 65 #46 of 130 79 #28 of 130 –
Overall 70 70 53
  • ACU ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • WST ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • RVP ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodACUWSTRVPSPY
1 month +6.5%+10.4%-15.9% +0.7%
3 months +20.5%+22.5%-14.7% +3.7%
6 months +66.4%+39.7%-8.2% +7.1%
Year to date +68.2%+51.1%-24.9% +12.8%
1 year +76.6%+45.9%-35.5% +11.9%
3 years +107.0%+30.0%-47.3% +85.2%
3 years, per year +27.5%+9.1%-19.2% +22.8%
5 years +83.3%-3.3%-93.9% +67.6%
5 years, per year +12.9%-0.7%-42.8% +10.9%
10 years +221.4%+467.2%-76.8% +262.0%
10 years, per year +12.4%+19.0%-13.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureACUWSTRVPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.7%31.3%40.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.3%30.9%45.0% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.230.620.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.501.47-0.88 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.5%-59.6%-94.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%0.0%-35.5% -1.2%
52-week high $67.81$415.75$0.90 $779.14
52-week low $35.50$230.95$0.58 $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.

MultipleACUWSTRVP
P/E now vs peer median 24.8xmedian 28.7x 45.8xmedian 28.7x -4.8xmedian 28.7x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 3.0x 8.5xmedian 3.0x 0.5xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.8x 29.8xmedian 17.8x 1.5xmedian 17.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.8xmedian 26.4x 64.0xmedian 26.4x -3.4xmedian 26.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.4x 9.8xmedian 2.4x 0.2xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.99 6.84median 0.99 0.22median 0.99

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 monthsACUWSTRVP
Revenue – $3.40B $33.90M
Gross profit – $1.28B -$491.51K
Operating income – $780.20M -$22.68M
Net income – $638.90M -$3.37M
Free cash flow – $453.40M -$5.11M
R&D – $75.60M $682.03K
EPS (diluted) – $9.02 $-0.12
Cash & equivalents $7.94M $464.10M $2.64M
Total debt – $202.90M $3.40M
Shares (diluted) 4.14M 70.80M 29.94M
Enterprise value $260.56M $26.90B -$129.31M

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
MetricACUWSTRVP
P/E 24.8x 45.8x -4.8x
P/FCF 15.8x 64.0x -3.4x
P/Operating cash flow – 44.3x -3.5x
P/S 1.2x 8.5x 0.5x
P/B 2.1x 9.8x 0.2x
P/Tangible book 2.8x 9.8x 0.2x
EV/EBITDA – 29.8x 1.5x
EV/EBIT – 36.9x 1.0x
EV/Revenue – 8.5x -0.6x
EV/FCF – 63.4x 4.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 43.9x 4.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 6.84 0.22

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACUWSTRVP
Revenue growth (1Y) – 12.6% -11.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 5.1% -14.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 18.9% 81.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 4.7% -26.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 32.7% -2.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 6.6% -11.7%
Net income growth (1Y) – 29.9% 61.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 4.5% -23.9%
EPS growth (1Y) – 33.2% 59.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 6.7% -21.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -5.7% 58.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -5.2% -16.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 19.6% 62.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 2.6% 20.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACUWSTRVP
Gross margin – 37.6% -1.4%
EBITDA margin – 28.4% -43.9%
Operating margin – 23.0% -66.9%
Pretax margin – 23.2% -9.9%
Net margin – 18.8% -10.6%
FCF margin – 13.3% -15.1%
Operating cash flow margin – 19.3% -14.6%
Return on equity – 20.9% -4.7%
Return on assets – 15.3% -2.4%
Return on invested capital – 19.3% -31.4%
Return on capital employed – 22.8% -18.0%
Asset turnover – 0.8x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.0x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACUWSTRVP
Debt / assets – 5.0% 0.5%
Debt / equity – 0.1x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.3x 2.6x
Debt / FCF – 0.4x -0.1x
Liabilities / assets 39.9% 26.9% 48.6%
Equity / assets 60.1% 73.1% 51.4%
Interest coverage – 96.3x -278.8x
Current ratio 3.9x 2.8x 4.9x
Quick ratio – 1.9x 3.7x
Cash ratio – 0.7x 3.0x
Altman Z-score – 19.42 0.43

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACUWSTRVP
Dividend yield 0.9% 0.2% –
Net buyback yield – 2.3% –
Shareholder yield 0.9% 2.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 9.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 13.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 3.7% –

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.

ConsensusACUWSTRVP
Forward P/E 24.7xFY2026 43.5xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $2.75FY2026 $9.56FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +10.4%FY2026 +31.1%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +4.0% +10.6% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $217.65MFY2026 $3.24BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +10.7%FY2026 +5.6%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +0.7% +16.8% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACUWSTRVP
Held by institutions 73.5% 99.5% 8.8%
Institutions holding 84 834 32
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% -0.9% +5.9%
Institutions buying 47 449 10
Institutions selling 21 261 4
Buyers to sellers 2.24 1.72 2.50

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.

ACUWSTRVP
ACU 1.00 0.13 0.06
WST 0.13 1.00 0.02
RVP 0.06 0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACU, WST and RVP?

West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) is the largest by market capitalisation: Acme United (ACU) $260.56M, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) $29.11B, Retractable Technologies (RVP) $17.10M.

Which stock is cheaper, ACU, WST and RVP?

Acme United (ACU) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Acme United (ACU) 24.8x, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) 45.6x, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -4.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Acme United (ACU) is cheapest (Acme United (ACU) 24.7x, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) 43.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) +12.6%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -11.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) has the highest net margin (West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) 18.8%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -10.6%). On return on invested capital, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) leads (West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) 19.3%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -31.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Acme United (ACU) returned the most: Acme United (ACU) +76.6%, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) +45.9%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -35.5%. Over five years, Acme United (ACU) compounded fastest (Acme United (ACU) +12.9%/yr, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) -0.7%/yr, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -42.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Acme United (ACU) 0.00%, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) 0.00%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) 0.00%. Acme United (ACU) and Retractable Technologies (RVP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Acme United (ACU) has been the steadiest (Acme United (ACU) 30.7%, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) 31.3%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) 40.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACU, WST and RVP?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Acme United (ACU) leads on 6. 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.