AOS vs HELE Stock Comparison

Smith A O and Helen Of Troy Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AOS Smith A O Corp
$62.08 +5.8% 1M -9.5% 1Y
Market cap
$8.44B
P/E
17.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.80B
Div. yield
2.32%
HVAC Industrials
8 wins
HELE Helen Of Troy Ltd
$29.20 +2.0% 1M +45.7% 1Y
Market cap
$680.28M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.83B
Div. yield
–
Home Appliances Consumer Discretionary
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Smith A O leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Smith A O 8, Helen Of Troy 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAOSHELELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.44B $680.28M AOS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.0x -6.9x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.2x 7.8x HELE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +0.4% +0.3% AOS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.1% -5.4% AOS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.9% 1.6% AOS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 8.3x AOS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.32% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -9.5% +45.7% HELE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.6%/yr -33.4%/yr AOS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.4% 54.0% AOS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 44/100 AOS

Percentile Scorecard

AOSHELE

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

AxisAOSHELE
Valuation 66 #20 of 56 78 #10 of 42
Growth 39 #32 of 52 39 #26 of 42
Profitability 100 #1 of 49 49 #21 of 40
Financial Health 71 #17 of 56 30 #31 of 44
Shareholder Returns 43 #24 of 41 22 #22 of 28
Overall 64 44
  • AOS ranked among 60 companies in Construction Products
  • HELE ranked among 45 companies in Household Durables

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAOSHELESPY
1 month +5.8%+2.0% -0.2%
3 months -3.0%+1.2% +3.9%
6 months -2.9%+24.5% +8.2%
Year to date -7.2%+37.4% +12.9%
1 year -9.5%+45.7% +12.3%
3 years -8.5%-69.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year -2.9%-32.9% +23.3%
5 years -12.2%-86.9% +67.9%
5 years, per year -2.6%-33.4% +10.9%
10 years +38.3%-62.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +3.3%-9.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAOSHELESPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.4%54.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 26.5%48.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.710.97 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.350.85 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.4%-94.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -22.9%-3.4% -1.2%
52-week high $80.47$30.22 $779.14
52-week low $55.34$13.88 $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.

MultipleAOSHELE
P/E now vs peer median 17.0xmedian 20.1x -6.9xmedian 16.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.5x 0.4xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.7xmedian 11.8x 17.0xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.2xmedian 16.2x 4.6xmedian 11.9x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.9x 0.8xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.65median 0.99 0.17median 0.64

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 monthsAOSHELE
Revenue $3.80B $1.83B
Gross profit $1.47B $864.98M
Operating income $668.70M $23.94M
Net income $500.30M -$99.23M
Free cash flow $639.40M $147.21M
EPS (diluted) $3.63 $-4.11
Cash & equivalents $181.30M $22.58M
Total debt $637.50M $3.17B
Shares (diluted) 137.86M 24.15M
Enterprise value $7.69B $590.00M

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
MetricAOSHELE
P/E 17.0x -6.9x
P/FCF 13.2x 4.6x
P/Operating cash flow 12.2x 3.8x
P/S 2.2x 0.4x
P/B 4.6x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 6.7x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 11.7x 17.0x
EV/EBIT 13.3x 55.6x
EV/Revenue 2.3x 0.7x
EV/FCF 13.9x 9.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.8x 7.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.65 0.17

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAOSHELE
Revenue growth (1Y) 0.4% 0.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.6% -3.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 1.4% 0.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 1.3% -1.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5.2% 103.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -2.5% -52.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -3.5% 84.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 22.3% -39.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -0.3% 85.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.2% -39.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 16.1% 97.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.0% -25.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 29.3% 192.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.2% -25.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAOSHELE
Gross margin 38.6% 47.4%
EBITDA margin 20.0% 4.3%
Operating margin 17.6% 1.3%
Pretax margin 17.0% -1.5%
Net margin 13.1% -5.4%
FCF margin 16.8% 8.1%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 9.8%
Return on equity 26.9% -11.7%
Return on assets 13.7% -4.8%
Return on invested capital 20.9% 1.6%
Return on capital employed 24.1% 1.5%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x -1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAOSHELE
Debt / assets 17.5% 32.1%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 8.3x
Debt / FCF 1.0x 4.6x
Liabilities / assets 49.5% 59.3%
Equity / assets 50.5% 40.7%
Interest coverage 31.5x 0.5x
Current ratio 1.6x 1.7x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 6.20 1.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAOSHELE
Dividend yield 2.3% –
Net buyback yield 3.7% -0.1%
Shareholder yield 6.0% -0.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 39.6% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.0% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 3.2% –

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.

ConsensusAOSHELE
Forward P/E 17.2xFY2026 7.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.60FY2026 $3.74FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -6.5%FY2026 +5.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.0% +13.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.73BFY2026 $1.76BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.6%FY2026 -1.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.9% -2.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAOSHELE
Held by institutions 91.9% 96.3%
Institutions holding 614 198
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.1% +5.7%
Institutions buying 315 120
Institutions selling 226 46
Buyers to sellers 1.39 2.61

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.

AOSHELE
AOS 1.00 0.32
HELE 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AOS and HELE?

Smith A O (AOS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smith A O (AOS) $8.44B, Helen Of Troy (HELE) $680.28M.

Which company is growing faster?

Smith A O (AOS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smith A O (AOS) +0.4%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) +0.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smith A O (AOS) has the highest net margin (Smith A O (AOS) 13.1%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) -5.4%). On return on invested capital, Smith A O (AOS) leads (Smith A O (AOS) 20.9%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) 1.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Helen Of Troy (HELE) returned the most: Smith A O (AOS) -9.5%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) +45.7%. Over five years, Smith A O (AOS) compounded fastest (Smith A O (AOS) -2.6%/yr, Helen Of Troy (HELE) -33.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Smith A O (AOS) 2.32%. Helen Of Troy (HELE) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smith A O (AOS) has been the steadiest (Smith A O (AOS) 27.4%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) 54.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do AOS and HELE move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.32, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, AOS and HELE?

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 8. 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.