AOS vs ECL vs JCI Stock Comparison

Smith A O, Ecolab and Johnson Controls International Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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AOS Smith A O Corp
$63.51 +9.4% 1M -3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$8.53B
P/E
17.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.80B
Div. yield
2.27%
HVAC Industrials
6 wins
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$300.86 +8.3% 1M +16.9% 1Y
Market cap
$84.39B
P/E
40.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
0.97%
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Smith A O leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Smith A O 6, Johnson Controls International 3, Ecolab 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAOSECLJCILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.53B $84.39B $95.85B JCI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.4x 40.5x 33.7x AOS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.6x 38.1x 24.7x AOS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.7% +9.3% — ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.0% 12.0% — AOS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.8% 10.0% — AOS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 3.1x — AOS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.27% 0.97% 1.01% AOS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.2% +16.9% +39.6% JCI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.8%/yr +6.3%/yr +16.6%/yr JCI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.6% 21.2% 31.7% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 64/100 37/100 ECL

Percentile Scorecard

AOSECLJCI

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

AxisAOSECLJCI
Valuation 67 #19 of 55 50 #11 of 21 9 #50 of 55
Growth 32 #35 of 51 83 #4 of 19 80 #11 of 51
Profitability 90 #6 of 49 93 #2 of 16 –
Financial Health 70 #17 of 55 25 #16 of 21 –
Shareholder Returns 41 #24 of 40 67 #4 of 10 23 #31 of 40
Overall 60 64 37
  • AOS ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • JCI ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAOSECLJCISPY
1 month +9.4%+8.3%+5.9% +0.7%
3 months +6.2%+7.7%+10.0% +3.7%
6 months +2.7%+15.4%+8.4% +7.1%
Year to date -5.0%+14.6%+32.1% +12.8%
1 year -3.2%+16.9%+39.6% +11.9%
3 years -8.6%+89.0%+225.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year -3.0%+23.7%+48.2% +22.8%
5 years -13.1%+35.4%+115.7% +67.6%
5 years, per year -2.8%+6.3%+16.6% +10.9%
10 years +41.2%+161.4%+261.6% +262.0%
10 years, per year +3.5%+10.1%+13.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAOSECLJCISPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.6%21.2%31.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 26.3%20.4%32.8% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.700.481.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.110.791.25 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.4%-44.3%-43.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.1%-2.4%-0.3% -1.2%
52-week high $80.47$308.35$158.77 $779.14
52-week low $55.34$245.73$110.85 $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.

MultipleAOSECLJCI
P/E now vs peer median 17.4xmedian 20.3x 40.5xmedian 25.4x 33.7xmedian 20.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.6x 4.9xmedian 2.5x 3.6xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.8xmedian 12.6x 24.3xmedian 17.9x —median 12.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 16.9x 47.0xmedian 22.3x 28.6xmedian 16.9x
P/B now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 3.0x 8.1xmedian 1.8x 7.0xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.77median 1.13 2.04median 1.73 1.67median 1.13

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 monthsAOSECLJCI
Revenue $3.80B $17.37B –
Gross profit $1.47B $7.63B $9.52B
Operating income $668.30M $2.90B –
Net income $494.60M $2.10B –
Free cash flow $561.70M $1.80B –
EPS (diluted) $3.63 $7.38 $4.68
Cash & equivalents $234.50M $722.30M $618.00M
Total debt $673.10M $13.19B –
Shares (diluted) 136.10M 282.10M 610.00M
Enterprise value $7.72B $77.40B $95.89B

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
MetricAOSECLJCI
P/E 17.4x 40.5x 33.7x
P/FCF 15.2x 47.0x 28.6x
P/Operating cash flow 13.9x 27.9x 24.8x
P/S 2.2x 4.9x 3.6x
P/B 4.7x 8.1x 7.0x
P/Tangible book 6.9x 15.8x 9.4x
EV/EBITDA 11.8x 24.3x –
EV/EBIT 13.4x 33.4x –
EV/Revenue 2.4x 5.6x –
EV/FCF 16.0x 54.0x –
EV/Operating cash flow 14.6x 32.0x 24.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.77 2.04 1.67

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAOSECLJCI
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.7% 9.3% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.0% 4.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.4% 8.4% 10.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 0.1% 8.8% 6.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -7.2% 11.3% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.9% 17.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) -6.8% 4.7% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.2% 18.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) -3.5% 6.2% -7.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 22.5% 19.8% 20.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.6% 15.2% 51.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.2% 7.8% 27.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.8% 15.6% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.5% 1.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAOSECLJCI
Gross margin 38.6% 43.9% –
EBITDA margin 20.1% 22.9% –
Operating margin 17.6% 16.7% –
Pretax margin 16.8% 15.0% –
Net margin 13.0% 12.0% –
FCF margin 14.8% 10.3% –
Operating cash flow margin 16.1% 17.4% –
Return on equity 27.0% 20.4% 21.1%
Return on assets 13.6% 6.9% 7.3%
Return on invested capital 20.8% 10.0% –
Return on capital employed 24.0% 12.0% –
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.6x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.4x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAOSECLJCI
Debt / assets 18.4% 42.4% –
Debt / equity 0.4x 1.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 3.1x –
Debt / FCF 1.2x 7.3x –
Liabilities / assets 50.1% 66.4% –
Equity / assets 49.9% 33.6% 33.9%
Interest coverage 26.4x 8.0x –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.1x 0.9x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.7x –
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 6.22 3.96 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAOSECLJCI
Dividend yield 2.3% 1.0% 1.0%
Net buyback yield 3.8% 1.1% –
Shareholder yield 6.1% 2.1% 1.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 40.3% 39.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 35.5% 45.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.4% 12.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 9.7% –

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.

ConsensusAOSECLJCI
Forward P/E 17.6xFY2026 38.1xFY2026 24.7xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $3.60FY2026 $7.90FY2026 $6.41FY2027
EPS growth, next FY -6.5%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026 +36.6%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +15.0% +23.2% +8.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.73BFY2026 $17.26BFY2026 $26.80BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.6%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026 +13.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.9% +5.4% +6.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAOSECLJCI
Held by institutions 91.9% 80.0% 89.5%
Institutions holding 615 1,712 1,598
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.1% +1.4% -1.1%
Institutions buying 316 764 791
Institutions selling 226 679 557
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.13 1.42

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.

AOSECLJCI
AOS 1.00 0.59 0.28
ECL 0.59 1.00 0.17
JCI 0.28 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AOS, ECL and JCI?

Johnson Controls International (JCI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smith A O (AOS) $8.53B, Ecolab (ECL) $84.39B, Johnson Controls International (JCI) $95.85B.

Which stock is cheaper, AOS, ECL and JCI?

Smith A O (AOS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smith A O (AOS) 17.4x, Ecolab (ECL) 40.5x, Johnson Controls International (JCI) 33.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Smith A O (AOS) is cheapest (Smith A O (AOS) 17.6x, Ecolab (ECL) 38.1x, Johnson Controls International (JCI) 24.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ecolab (ECL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smith A O (AOS) -0.7%, Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smith A O (AOS) has the highest net margin (Smith A O (AOS) 13.0%, Ecolab (ECL) 12.0%). On return on invested capital, Smith A O (AOS) leads (Smith A O (AOS) 20.8%, Ecolab (ECL) 10.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Johnson Controls International (JCI) returned the most: Smith A O (AOS) -3.2%, Ecolab (ECL) +16.9%, Johnson Controls International (JCI) +39.6%. Over five years, Johnson Controls International (JCI) compounded fastest (Smith A O (AOS) -2.8%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +6.3%/yr, Johnson Controls International (JCI) +16.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Smith A O (AOS) has the highest dividend yield: Smith A O (AOS) 2.27%, Ecolab (ECL) 0.97%, Johnson Controls International (JCI) 1.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Smith A O (AOS) 27.6%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.2%, Johnson Controls International (JCI) 31.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AOS, ECL and JCI?

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