AME vs DOV vs NDSN Stock Comparison

Ametek, Dover and Nordson Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AME Ametek Inc/
$242.89 -3.3% 1M +29.8% 1Y
Market cap
$55.75B
P/E
35.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.86B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
6 wins
DOV DOVER Corp
$202.49 +5.6% 1M +14.1% 1Y
Market cap
$27.49B
P/E
23.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.58B
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins
NDSN Nordson Corp
$321.98 -1.2% 1M +36.5% 1Y
Market cap
$17.94B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Ametek leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ametek 6, Nordson 4, Dover 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAMEDOVNDSNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $55.75B $27.49B $17.94B AME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 35.4x 23.6x 32.3x DOV
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.6x 19.9x 28.9x DOV
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.7% +8.2% +7.0% AME
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.0% — 18.6% AME
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.8% — 13.1% NDSN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x — 1.7x AME
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% NDSN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +29.8% +14.1% +36.5% NDSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.3%/yr +4.1%/yr +5.3%/yr AME
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.9% 24.9% 22.2% NDSN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 41/100 58/100 AME

Percentile Scorecard

AMEDOVNDSN

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

AxisAMEDOVNDSN
Valuation 17 #168 of 203 47 #109 of 203 30 #143 of 203
Growth 63 #70 of 187 46 #102 of 187 57 #82 of 187
Profitability 92 #15 of 185 – 96 #8 of 185
Financial Health 69 #69 of 219 – 54 #101 of 219
Shareholder Returns 70 #46 of 153 32 #104 of 153 53 #73 of 153
Overall 62 41 58
  • AME ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • DOV 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

PeriodAMEDOVNDSNSPY
1 month -3.3%+5.6%-1.2% -0.8%
3 months -0.1%-1.6%+8.3% +3.5%
6 months +4.3%-10.5%+13.6% +7.0%
Year to date +18.3%+3.7%+33.9% +12.2%
1 year +29.8%+14.1%+36.5% +13.0%
3 years +74.5%+57.7%+51.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year +20.4%+16.4%+14.9% +23.1%
5 years +87.0%+22.3%+29.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year +13.3%+4.1%+5.3% +11.0%
10 years +441.8%+265.5%+220.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year +18.4%+13.8%+12.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAMEDOVNDSNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.9%24.9%22.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.8%25.2%21.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.970.930.88 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.250.571.64 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.3%-36.3%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.1%-13.2%-3.8% -1.8%
52-week high $258.54$233.31$334.70 $779.14
52-week low $184.19$177.96$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.

MultipleAMEDOVNDSN
P/E now vs peer median 35.3xmedian 26.0x 23.4xmedian 26.0x 32.3xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 7.1xmedian 1.9x 3.2xmedian 1.9x 6.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.3xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x 21.1xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.5xmedian 21.4x 21.7xmedian 21.4x 24.8xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 2.2x —median 2.2x 5.5xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 4.06median 1.26 4.10median 1.26 7.34median 1.26

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 monthsAMEDOVNDSN
Revenue $7.86B $8.58B $2.98B
Gross profit $2.86B $3.40B $1.65B
Operating income $2.04B – $800.96M
Net income $1.58B – $555.18M
Free cash flow $1.82B – $724.01M
EPS (diluted) $6.86 $8.60 $9.91
Cash & equivalents $495.45M – $113.43M
Total debt $2.04B – $1.73B
Shares (diluted) 229.86M 135.55M 56.03M
Enterprise value $53.88B $27.49B $17.50B

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
MetricAMEDOVNDSN
P/E 35.3x 23.4x 32.3x
P/FCF 30.5x 21.7x 24.8x
P/Operating cash flow 28.4x 19.3x 23.2x
P/S 7.1x 3.2x 6.0x
P/B 4.9x – 5.5x
P/Tangible book 7.9x – 6.8x
EV/EBITDA 23.3x – 21.1x
EV/EBIT 28.1x – 24.4x
EV/Revenue 7.3x 3.2x 6.6x
EV/FCF 31.4x – 27.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 29.2x 19.3x 25.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.06 4.10 7.34

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAMEDOVNDSN
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.7% 8.2% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.0% 4.1% 4.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.4% 8.3% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.9% 6.1% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.2% – 18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 8.2% – 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.6% – 22.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.5% – 3.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.4% -47.2% 23.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.7% 5.7% 4.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.1% 14.3% 26.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 12.1% 5.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 8.4% – 33.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.0% – 5.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAMEDOVNDSN
Gross margin 36.4% – 55.3%
EBITDA margin 31.2% – 31.2%
Operating margin 25.9% – 26.9%
Pretax margin 24.3% – 22.6%
Net margin 20.0% – 18.6%
FCF margin 23.2% – 24.3%
Operating cash flow margin 24.9% 16.4% 26.0%
Return on equity 14.2% – 17.2%
Return on assets 9.6% – 9.3%
Return on invested capital 12.8% – 13.1%
Return on capital employed 14.8% – 15.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x – 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAMEDOVNDSN
Debt / assets 12.3% – 29.1%
Debt / equity 0.2x – 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x – 1.7x
Debt / FCF 1.1x – 2.4x
Liabilities / assets 32.1% – 45.0%
Equity / assets 67.9% – 55.0%
Interest coverage 21.1x – 8.8x
Current ratio 1.2x – 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x – 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.2x – 0.2x
Altman Z-score 8.27 – 6.23

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAMEDOVNDSN
Dividend yield 0.5% 1.0% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 0.7% – 1.1%
Shareholder yield 1.3% 1.0% 2.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 18.9% – 33.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 16.3% – 25.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.4% – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 11.3% – 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.

ConsensusAMEDOVNDSN
Forward P/E 29.6xFY2026 19.9xFY2026 28.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.20FY2026 $10.20FY2026 $11.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.4%FY2026 +6.1%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.4% +10.6% +21.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.98BFY2026 $8.13BFY2026 $3.19BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.8%FY2026 +0.5%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.1% +17.1% +5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAMEDOVNDSN
Held by institutions 89.6% 91.1% 76.0%
Institutions holding 1,195 1,163 755
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% -0.3% +3.1%
Institutions buying 615 500 389
Institutions selling 399 405 240
Buyers to sellers 1.54 1.23 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.

AMEDOVNDSN
AME 1.00 0.61 0.59
DOV 0.61 1.00 0.57
NDSN 0.59 0.57 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AME, DOV and NDSN?

Ametek (AME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ametek (AME) $55.75B, Dover (DOV) $27.49B, Nordson (NDSN) $17.94B.

Which stock is cheaper, AME, DOV and NDSN?

Dover (DOV) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ametek (AME) 35.4x, Dover (DOV) 23.6x, Nordson (NDSN) 32.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Dover (DOV) is cheapest (Ametek (AME) 29.6x, Dover (DOV) 19.9x, Nordson (NDSN) 28.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ametek (AME) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ametek (AME) +12.7%, Dover (DOV) +8.2%, Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ametek (AME) has the highest net margin (Ametek (AME) 20.0%, Nordson (NDSN) 18.6%). On return on invested capital, Nordson (NDSN) leads (Ametek (AME) 12.8%, Nordson (NDSN) 13.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nordson (NDSN) returned the most: Ametek (AME) +29.8%, Dover (DOV) +14.1%, Nordson (NDSN) +36.5%. Over five years, Ametek (AME) compounded fastest (Ametek (AME) +13.3%/yr, Dover (DOV) +4.1%/yr, Nordson (NDSN) +5.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Nordson (NDSN) has the highest dividend yield: Ametek (AME) 0.01%, Dover (DOV) 0.00%, Nordson (NDSN) 0.01%. Dover (DOV) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nordson (NDSN) has been the steadiest (Ametek (AME) 23.9%, Dover (DOV) 24.9%, Nordson (NDSN) 22.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AME, DOV 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, Ametek (AME) 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.