AIT vs EACO vs HD Stock Comparison

Applied Industrial Technologies, Eaco and Home Depot Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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EACO Eaco Corp
$125.00 -3.8% 1M +68.9% 1Y
Market cap
$729.24M
P/E
17.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$493.61M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Distribution Industrials
7 wins
HD Home Depot, Inc.
$317.85 +9.7% 1M -17.6% 1Y
Market cap
$325.66B
P/E
22.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$169.18B
Div. yield
0.03%
Home Improvement Retail Consumer Discretionary
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Eaco leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Eaco 7, Home Depot 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAITEACOHDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.14B $729.24M $325.66B HD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.3x 17.5x 22.9x EACO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.3x — 22.7x HD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +22.8% +2.5% EACO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.4% 8.5% 8.4% EACO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.0% 22.1% 23.3% HD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.3x -0.5x 2.0x EACO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.03% HD
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +16.0% +68.9% -17.6% EACO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.2%/yr +44.7%/yr -3.1%/yr EACO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.8% 59.2% 26.9% HD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 80/100 39/100 EACO

Percentile Scorecard

AITEACOHD

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

AxisAITEACOHD
Valuation 22 #36 of 46 60 #19 of 46 22 #81 of 104
Growth 61 #16 of 39 84 #7 of 39 25 #74 of 98
Profitability 95 #3 of 39 79 #9 of 39 91 #10 of 96
Financial Health 91 #5 of 47 98 #2 of 47 28 #79 of 110
Shareholder Returns 77 #8 of 32 – 31 #49 of 71
Overall 69 80 39
  • AIT ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • EACO ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • HD ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAITEACOHDSPY
1 month -11.3%-3.8%+9.7% +0.9%
3 months -10.5%+19.0%-6.1% +5.9%
6 months +0.9%+38.8%-1.5% +8.5%
Year to date +16.5%+61.0%-7.6% +13.3%
1 year +16.0%+68.9%-17.6% +12.4%
3 years +98.5%+267.6%+15.0% +88.1%
3 years, per year +25.7%+54.4%+4.8% +23.5%
5 years +207.0%+532.9%-14.5% +68.2%
5 years, per year +25.2%+44.7%-3.1% +11.0%
10 years +495.5%+1,817.2%+157.2% +263.4%
10 years, per year +19.5%+34.4%+9.9% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureAITEACOHDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.8%59.2%26.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.1%121.6%26.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.790.120.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.581.16-0.65 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.5%-28.7%-35.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.4%-7.4%-18.7% -0.9%
52-week high $362.17$135.00$391.05 $779.14
52-week low $240.63$73.00$281.12 $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.

MultipleAITEACOHD
P/E now vs peer median 25.9xmedian 25.6x 14.6xmedian 25.6x 22.2xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.1x 1.2xmedian 1.1x 1.9xmedian 0.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.6xmedian 13.3x 10.2xmedian 13.3x 14.5xmedian 9.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.9xmedian 22.0x 67.5xmedian 22.0x 21.0xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 2.6x 3.2xmedian 2.6x 19.1xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 3.58median 2.36 0.56median 2.36 -5.45median 0.73

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 monthsAITEACOHD
Revenue $5.06B $493.61M $169.18B
Gross profit $1.54B $152.37M $56.18B
Operating income $564.03M $54.76M $21.02B
Net income $424.12M $41.81M $14.23B
Free cash flow $421.86M $9.00M $15.10B
EPS (diluted) $11.41 $8.51 $14.28
Cash & equivalents – $758.00K $2.09B
Total debt $282.30M $16.66M $214.74B
Shares (diluted) 37.18M 4.90M 996.00M
Enterprise value $11.03B $603.82M $318.91B

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
MetricAITEACOHD
P/E 25.9x 14.6x 22.2x
P/FCF 25.9x 67.5x 21.0x
P/Operating cash flow 24.2x 49.4x 16.9x
P/S 2.2x 1.2x 1.9x
P/B 5.8x 3.2x 19.1x
P/Tangible book 6.9x 3.2x 51.7x
EV/EBITDA 17.6x 10.2x 14.5x
EV/EBIT 19.7x 10.6x 17.5x
EV/Revenue 2.2x 1.2x 2.2x
EV/FCF 26.3x 64.2x 24.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.6x 47.0x 19.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.58 0.56 -5.45

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAITEACOHD
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 22.8% 2.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 15.8% 3.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.3% 25.9% 2.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 18.0% 2.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 9.7% 36.1% -2.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.0% 24.9% -3.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 5.6% 41.0% -2.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.3% 26.0% -4.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.7% 41.1% -2.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.2% 26.0% -4.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.8% -35.6% 5.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% -16.7% -1.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -7.3% -51.2% 6.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% -23.1% -2.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAITEACOHD
Gross margin 30.4% 30.9% 33.2%
EBITDA margin 12.4% 11.4% 15.0%
Operating margin 11.2% 11.1% 12.4%
Pretax margin 11.0% 11.3% 11.1%
Net margin 8.4% 8.5% 8.4%
FCF margin 8.3% 1.8% 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 8.9% 2.5% 11.1%
Return on equity 22.6% 23.0% 93.3%
Return on assets 14.2% 16.5% 13.1%
Return on invested capital 20.0% 22.1% 23.3%
Return on capital employed 22.9% 30.4% 28.5%
Asset turnover 1.7x 1.9x 1.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 0.3x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAITEACOHD
Debt / assets 9.5% 1.5% 48.4%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.0x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.3x -0.5x 2.0x
Debt / FCF 0.7x 0.5x 3.5x
Liabilities / assets 36.8% 29.7% 84.8%
Equity / assets 63.2% 70.3% 15.2%
Interest coverage – 286.7x 8.7x
Current ratio 2.9x 3.0x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.7x 1.4x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.5x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 10.05 8.67 5.52

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAITEACOHD
Dividend yield 0.7% – 2.9%
Net buyback yield 3.1% – -0.1%
Shareholder yield 3.8% – 2.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.4% – 64.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) 17.5% – 61.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) 10.6% – 2.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 11.1% – 4.4%

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.

ConsensusAITEACOHD
Forward P/E 23.3xFY2027 – 22.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.83FY2027 – $13.98FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.2%FY2027 – -4.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.8% – +10.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.91BFY2027 – $163.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.1%FY2027 – -0.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% – +14.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAITEACOHD
Held by institutions 94.4% – 75.0%
Institutions holding 617 – 4,110
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% – +3.1%
Institutions buying 326 – 1,919
Institutions selling 207 – 1,767
Buyers to sellers 1.57 – 1.09

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.

AITEACOHD
AIT 1.00 -0.02 0.31
EACO -0.02 1.00 0.05
HD 0.31 0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AIT, EACO and HD?

Home Depot (HD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) $11.14B, Eaco (EACO) $729.24M, Home Depot (HD) $325.66B.

Which stock is cheaper, AIT, EACO and HD?

Eaco (EACO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 26.3x, Eaco (EACO) 17.5x, Home Depot (HD) 22.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Home Depot (HD) is cheapest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 23.3x, Home Depot (HD) 22.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Eaco (EACO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +8.5%, Eaco (EACO) +22.8%, Home Depot (HD) +2.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Eaco (EACO) has the highest net margin (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 8.4%, Eaco (EACO) 8.5%, Home Depot (HD) 8.4%). On return on invested capital, Home Depot (HD) leads (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 20.0%, Eaco (EACO) 22.1%, Home Depot (HD) 23.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Eaco (EACO) returned the most: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +16.0%, Eaco (EACO) +68.9%, Home Depot (HD) -17.6%. Over five years, Eaco (EACO) compounded fastest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +25.2%/yr, Eaco (EACO) +44.7%/yr, Home Depot (HD) -3.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Home Depot (HD) has the highest dividend yield: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 0.01%, Eaco (EACO) 0.00%, Home Depot (HD) 0.03%. Eaco (EACO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Home Depot (HD) has been the steadiest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 27.8%, Eaco (EACO) 59.2%, Home Depot (HD) 26.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AIT, EACO and HD?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Eaco (EACO) leads on 7. 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.