ADP vs DFIN Stock Comparison

Automatic Data Processing and Donnelley Financial Solutions Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Donnelley Financial Solutions leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Donnelley Financial Solutions 6, Automatic Data Processing 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionADPDFINLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $121.50B $1.65B ADP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.3x 17.0x DFIN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.7x 12.8x DFIN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% +4.8% ADP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.3% 12.4% ADP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -47.2% 19.0% DFIN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.5x ADP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.21% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +18.3% +45.1% DFIN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.0%/yr +6.6%/yr DFIN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.0% 47.7% ADP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 37/100 77/100 DFIN

Percentile Scorecard

ADPDFIN

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

AxisADPDFIN
Valuation 26 #74 of 100 91 #10 of 100
Growth 29 #71 of 99 52 #48 of 99
Profitability 54 #45 of 96 92 #9 of 96
Financial Health 33 #75 of 112 66 #39 of 112
Shareholder Returns 44 #38 of 67 86 #10 of 67
Overall 37 77
  • ADP ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications
  • DFIN ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodADPDFINSPY
1 month +17.1%+35.7% -5.9%
3 months +12.3%+38.9% -4.6%
6 months +43.5%+52.0% +0.2%
Year to date +19.4%+43.9% +7.5%
1 year +18.3%+45.1% +8.2%
3 years +39.3%+21.8% +68.3%
3 years, per year +11.7%+6.8% +19.0%
5 years +33.8%+37.7% +56.5%
5 years, per year +6.0%+6.6% +9.4%
10 years +244.8%+224.1% +251.5%
10 years, per year +13.2%+12.5% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureADPDFINSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.0%47.7% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 25.9%49.8% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.110.56 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.650.95 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.2%-50.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.3%-3.5% -5.9%
52-week high $307.94$69.64 $779.14
52-week low $188.79$36.74 $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.

MultipleADPDFIN
P/E now vs peer median 27.3xmedian 24.7x 17.0xmedian 24.7x
P/S now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 2.8x 2.1xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -26.5xmedian 16.5x 8.3xmedian 16.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.2xmedian 15.3x 9.2xmedian 15.3x
P/B now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 2.7x 4.0xmedian 2.7x
PEG now vs peer median 2.75median 0.77 1.34median 0.77

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 monthsADPDFIN
Revenue $22.26B $787.20M
Gross profit $10.37B $509.00M
Operating income -$6.45B $151.40M
Net income $4.53B $97.40M
Free cash flow $5.25B $178.90M
R&D $1.03B –
EPS (diluted) $11.22 $3.90
Cash & equivalents $3.28B $27.20M
Total debt $4.97B $127.00M
Shares (diluted) 403.30M 25.00M
Enterprise value $108.30B $1.54B

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
MetricADPDFIN
P/E 27.3x 17.0x
P/FCF 23.2x 9.2x
P/Operating cash flow 22.3x 7.2x
P/S 5.5x 2.1x
P/B 23.9x 4.0x
P/Tangible book 35.4x 4.0x
EV/EBITDA -26.5x 8.3x
EV/EBIT -19.1x 11.5x
EV/Revenue 5.5x 2.2x
EV/FCF 23.5x 9.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 22.6x 7.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.75 1.34

Growth

14 metrics
MetricADPDFIN
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% 4.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.7% -0.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.0% 8.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 3.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) -2.7% 11.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.8% 8.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.4% 199.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 5.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.3% 228.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.9% 12.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 14.6% 40.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 22.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 14.0% 76.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.2% 40.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricADPDFIN
Gross margin 46.6% 64.7%
EBITDA margin -20.9% 26.8%
Operating margin -29.0% 19.2%
Pretax margin 26.4% 17.5%
Net margin 20.3% 12.4%
FCF margin 23.6% 22.7%
Operating cash flow margin 24.5% 28.8%
Return on equity 81.4% 24.5%
Return on assets 7.1% 12.0%
Return on invested capital -47.2% 19.0%
Return on capital employed -54.0% 24.9%
Asset turnover 0.4x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 4.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricADPDFIN
Debt / assets 7.8% 16.1%
Debt / equity 1.0x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x 0.5x
Debt / FCF 0.9x 0.7x
Liabilities / assets 92.0% 48.1%
Equity / assets 8.0% 51.9%
Interest coverage -13.7x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.1x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.90 5.41

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricADPDFIN
Dividend yield 2.2% –
Net buyback yield 2.0% 8.8%
Shareholder yield 4.3% 8.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

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.

ConsensusADPDFIN
Forward P/E 23.7xFY2027 12.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.97FY2027 $5.24FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.6%FY2027 +21.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.0% +3.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $22.20BFY2027 $826.07MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.2%FY2027 +7.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.1% -4.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersADPDFIN
Held by institutions 88.1% 91.7%
Institutions holding 2,294 247
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% -5.3%
Institutions buying 1,087 114
Institutions selling 875 89
Buyers to sellers 1.24 1.28

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.

ADPDFIN
ADP 1.00 0.42
DFIN 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ADP and DFIN?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) $121.50B, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) $1.65B.

Which stock is cheaper, ADP and DFIN?

Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 27.3x, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 17.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) is cheapest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 23.7x, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 12.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +6.5%, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) +4.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has the highest net margin (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 20.3%, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 12.4%). On return on invested capital, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) leads (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) -47.2%, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 19.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) returned the most: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +18.3%, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) +45.1%. Over five years, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) compounded fastest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) +6.0%/yr, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) +6.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 2.21%. Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) has been the steadiest (Automatic Data Processing (ADP) 28.0%, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 47.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ADP and DFIN move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.42, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ADP and DFIN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) 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.