ALNT vs ST vs NDSN Stock Comparison

Allient, Sensata Technologies Holding and Nordson Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ALNT Allient Inc
$94.04 -18.9% 1M +73.5% 1Y
Market cap
$1.62B
P/E
56.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$574.78M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins
NDSN Nordson Corp
$324.30 -0.5% 1M +36.1% 1Y
Market cap
$18.09B
P/E
32.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Nordson leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Nordson 5, Sensata Technologies Holding 3, Allient 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALNTSTNDSNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.62B $5.97B $18.09B NDSN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 56.6x 16.3x 32.6x ST
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 33.3x 11.8x 29.1x ST
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.6% +4.1% +7.0% ALNT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.0% 9.5% 18.6% NDSN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.8% 8.2% 13.1% NDSN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 2.3x 1.7x NDSN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +73.5% +33.9% +36.1% ALNT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +21.7%/yr -5.2%/yr +5.3%/yr ALNT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 60.1% 39.8% 22.2% NDSN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 40/100 63/100 57/100 ST

Percentile Scorecard

ALNTSTNDSN

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

AxisALNTSTNDSN
Valuation 15 #173 of 203 88 #26 of 203 30 #142 of 203
Growth 63 #71 of 188 71 #55 of 188 55 #85 of 188
Profitability 51 #90 of 183 70 #56 of 183 96 #8 of 183
Financial Health 57 #93 of 217 42 #127 of 217 54 #101 of 217
Shareholder Returns 13 #133 of 153 47 #82 of 153 51 #76 of 153
Overall 40 63 57
  • ALNT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ST ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • NDSN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodALNTSTNDSNSPY
1 month -18.9%+0.3%-0.5% -0.2%
3 months +12.9%-9.5%+7.2% +3.9%
6 months +26.5%+1.9%+15.1% +8.2%
Year to date +75.0%+27.1%+34.9% +12.9%
1 year +73.5%+33.9%+36.1% +12.3%
3 years +240.5%+23.3%+52.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +50.5%+7.2%+15.2% +23.3%
5 years +167.1%-23.3%+29.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +21.7%-5.2%+5.3% +10.9%
10 years +616.8%+14.3%+225.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +21.8%+1.3%+12.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureALNTSTNDSNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 60.1%39.8%22.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 60.8%36.8%21.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.261.930.88 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.220.851.62 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.1%-72.8%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.7%-21.0%-3.1% -1.2%
52-week high $118.63$53.55$334.70 $779.14
52-week low $48.39$28.53$226.69 $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.

MultipleALNTSTNDSN
P/E now vs peer median 55.2xmedian 25.2x 16.8xmedian 25.2x 32.5xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 1.9x 1.6xmedian 1.9x 6.1xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.3xmedian 14.0x 10.0xmedian 14.0x 21.2xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 58.1xmedian 21.7x 9.6xmedian 21.7x 24.9xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 2.3x 2.0xmedian 2.3x 5.5xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 9.97median 1.32 2.45median 1.32 7.39median 1.32

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 monthsALNTSTNDSN
Revenue $574.78M $3.85B $2.98B
Gross profit $191.57M $1.19B $1.65B
Operating income $48.46M $582.40M $800.96M
Net income $28.61M $366.60M $555.18M
Free cash flow $27.50M $641.20M $724.01M
R&D $39.66M $128.60M –
EPS (diluted) $1.70 $2.49 $9.91
Cash & equivalents $42.09M $553.40M $113.43M
Total debt $721.29M $2.40B $1.73B
Shares (diluted) 16.88M 147.00M 56.03M
Enterprise value $1.46B $3.80B $17.64B

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
MetricALNTSTNDSN
P/E 55.2x 16.8x 32.5x
P/FCF 58.1x 9.6x 24.9x
P/Operating cash flow 41.6x 8.1x 23.4x
P/S 2.8x 1.6x 6.1x
P/B 5.1x 2.0x 5.5x
P/Tangible book 6.9x 2.3x 6.8x
EV/EBITDA 23.3x 10.0x 21.2x
EV/EBIT 35.7x 13.7x 24.6x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 2.1x 6.6x
EV/FCF 62.9x 12.5x 27.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 45.1x 10.5x 25.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 9.97 2.45 7.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALNTSTNDSN
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.6% 4.1% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.0% -1.9% 4.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.9% 11.4% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.9% -3.3% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 44.6% 175.8% 18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.8% 2.8% 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 100.2% 1,505% 22.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.9% 5.6% 3.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 98.3% 1,492% 23.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 6.9% 4.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -39.0% 28.5% 26.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.3% 9.6% 5.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -50.3% 34.4% 33.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 54.3% 17.0% 5.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALNTSTNDSN
Gross margin 33.3% 30.8% 55.3%
EBITDA margin 12.9% 20.9% 31.2%
Operating margin 8.4% 15.1% 26.9%
Pretax margin 6.4% 12.4% 22.6%
Net margin 5.0% 9.5% 18.6%
FCF margin 4.8% 16.7% 24.3%
Operating cash flow margin 6.7% 19.7% 26.0%
Return on equity 9.3% 12.2% 17.2%
Return on assets 4.9% 5.5% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 7.8% 8.2% 13.1%
Return on capital employed 9.6% 10.0% 15.3%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 2.1x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.8% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALNTSTNDSN
Debt / assets 29.2% 35.8% 29.1%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.8x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 2.3x 1.7x
Debt / FCF 6.3x 3.7x 2.4x
Liabilities / assets 47.4% 54.1% 45.0%
Equity / assets 52.6% 45.9% 55.0%
Interest coverage 4.4x 4.4x 8.8x
Current ratio 3.4x 2.4x 1.8x
Quick ratio 1.8x 1.5x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.7x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.53 2.62 6.26

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALNTSTNDSN
Dividend yield 0.1% 1.1% 1.0%
Net buyback yield – 0.4% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 0.1% 1.5% 2.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 33.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 25.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 7.2%

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.

ConsensusALNTSTNDSN
Forward P/E 33.3xFY2026 11.8xFY2026 29.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.82FY2026 $3.60FY2026 $11.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +30.0%FY2026 +5.3%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.0% +19.7% +21.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $565.99MFY2026 $3.79BFY2026 $3.19BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.1%FY2026 +2.3%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.2% +1.1% +5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALNTSTNDSN
Held by institutions 77.3% 100.0% 76.0%
Institutions holding 229 467 755
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.8% +1.1% +3.1%
Institutions buying 133 265 389
Institutions selling 72 149 240
Buyers to sellers 1.85 1.78 1.62

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.

ALNTSTNDSN
ALNT 1.00 0.49 0.35
ST 0.49 1.00 0.53
NDSN 0.35 0.53 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALNT, ST and NDSN?

Nordson (NDSN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Allient (ALNT) $1.62B, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) $5.97B, Nordson (NDSN) $18.09B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALNT, ST and NDSN?

Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Allient (ALNT) 56.6x, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 16.3x, Nordson (NDSN) 32.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) is cheapest (Allient (ALNT) 33.3x, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 11.8x, Nordson (NDSN) 29.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Allient (ALNT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Allient (ALNT) +10.6%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) +4.1%, Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nordson (NDSN) has the highest net margin (Allient (ALNT) 5.0%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 9.5%, Nordson (NDSN) 18.6%). On return on invested capital, Nordson (NDSN) leads (Allient (ALNT) 7.8%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 8.2%, Nordson (NDSN) 13.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Allient (ALNT) returned the most: Allient (ALNT) +73.5%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) +33.9%, Nordson (NDSN) +36.1%. Over five years, Allient (ALNT) compounded fastest (Allient (ALNT) +21.7%/yr, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) -5.2%/yr, Nordson (NDSN) +5.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Allient (ALNT) 0.00%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 0.00%, Nordson (NDSN) 0.01%. Allient (ALNT) and Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nordson (NDSN) has been the steadiest (Allient (ALNT) 60.1%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 39.8%, Nordson (NDSN) 22.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ALNT, ST and NDSN?

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