AOS vs LII vs ULTA Stock Comparison

Smith A O, Lennox International and Ulta Beauty Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AOS Smith A O Corp
$63.51 +9.4% 1M -3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$8.54B
P/E
17.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.80B
Div. yield
0.02%
HVAC Industrials
2 wins
ULTA Ulta Beauty, Inc.
$648.28 +18.3% 1M +28.1% 1Y
Market cap
$27.39B
P/E
22.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.96B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Retail Consumer Discretionary
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Ulta Beauty leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Ulta Beauty 7, Lennox International 3, Smith A O 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAOSLIIULTALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.54B $11.79B $27.39B ULTA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.3x 15.7x 22.6x LII
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.6x 15.4x 23.2x LII
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.7% +1.9% +11.2% ULTA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.0% 13.8% 9.3% LII
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.8% 27.6% 42.9% ULTA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.4x 0.1x ULTA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.02% 0.00% AOS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.2% -28.6% +28.1% ULTA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.8%/yr +3.1%/yr +12.0%/yr ULTA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.6% 42.8% 35.8% AOS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 63/100 66/100 ULTA

Percentile Scorecard

AOSLIIULTA

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

AxisAOSLIIULTA
Valuation 67 #19 of 55 61 #22 of 55 18 #85 of 104
Growth 32 #35 of 51 56 #23 of 51 57 #43 of 98
Profitability 90 #6 of 49 100 #1 of 49 98 #3 of 97
Financial Health 70 #17 of 55 28 #40 of 55 66 #38 of 110
Shareholder Returns 41 #24 of 40 72 #12 of 40 90 #8 of 70
Overall 60 63 66
  • AOS ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products
  • LII ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products
  • ULTA ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAOSLIIULTASPY
1 month +9.4%-3.3%+18.3% +0.7%
3 months +6.2%-16.6%+25.5% +3.7%
6 months +2.7%-34.9%+20.6% +7.1%
Year to date -5.0%-28.3%+7.2% +12.8%
1 year -3.2%-28.6%+28.1% +11.9%
3 years -8.6%-4.7%+70.9% +85.2%
3 years, per year -3.0%-1.6%+19.6% +22.8%
5 years -13.1%+16.3%+76.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year -2.8%+3.1%+12.0% +10.9%
10 years +41.2%+137.8%+167.5% +262.0%
10 years, per year +3.5%+9.0%+10.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAOSLIIULTASPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.6%42.8%35.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 26.3%48.6%36.0% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.701.290.50 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.11-0.670.78 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.4%-51.0%-44.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.1%-39.2%-8.3% -1.2%
52-week high $80.47$572.95$706.82 $779.14
52-week low $55.34$332.41$450.75 $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.

MultipleAOSLIIULTA
P/E now vs peer median 17.4xmedian 20.3x 16.0xmedian 20.3x 23.0xmedian 17.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.6x 2.2xmedian 1.6x 2.1xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.8xmedian 12.6x 11.7xmedian 12.6x 14.4xmedian 9.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 16.9x 14.3xmedian 16.9x 24.1xmedian 15.6x
P/B now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 3.0x 9.0xmedian 3.0x 10.5xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.77median 1.13 1.24median 1.13 6.53median 0.77

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 monthsAOSLIIULTA
Revenue $3.80B $5.45B $12.96B
Gross profit $1.47B $1.78B $5.09B
Operating income $668.30M $1.03B $1.61B
Net income $494.60M $749.90M $1.21B
Free cash flow $561.70M $835.70M $1.15B
EPS (diluted) $3.63 $21.74 $28.10
Cash & equivalents $234.50M $43.30M $158.45M
Total debt $673.10M $1.62B $339.58M
Shares (diluted) 136.10M 34.50M 43.06M
Enterprise value $7.73B $11.61B $26.25B

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
MetricAOSLIIULTA
P/E 17.4x 16.0x 23.0x
P/FCF 15.2x 14.3x 24.1x
P/Operating cash flow 13.9x 12.0x 17.7x
P/S 2.2x 2.2x 2.1x
P/B 4.7x 9.0x 10.5x
P/Tangible book 6.9x 12.1x 11.4x
EV/EBITDA 11.8x 11.7x 14.4x
EV/EBIT 13.4x 13.1x 17.3x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 2.5x 2.2x
EV/FCF 16.0x 16.1x 24.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.6x 13.6x 17.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.77 1.24 6.53

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAOSLIIULTA
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.7% 1.9% 11.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.0% 3.4% 6.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.4% -1.6% 12.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 0.1% 6.3% 6.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -7.2% -6.4% 2.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.9% 11.7% -0.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.8% -13.3% 0.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.2% 11.6% -1.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -3.5% -11.6% 5.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 22.5% 12.8% 3.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.6% 44.6% 20.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.2% 20.7% 4.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.8% 56.4% 20.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.5% 27.5% 5.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAOSLIIULTA
Gross margin 38.6% 32.6% 39.3%
EBITDA margin 20.1% 21.2% 14.9%
Operating margin 17.6% 18.8% 12.5%
Pretax margin 16.8% 17.6% 12.4%
Net margin 13.0% 13.8% 9.3%
FCF margin 14.8% 15.3% 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 16.1% 18.2% 12.1%
Return on equity 27.0% 57.4% 46.6%
Return on assets 13.6% 16.2% 17.6%
Return on invested capital 20.8% 27.6% 42.9%
Return on capital employed 24.0% 36.9% 34.7%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.2x 1.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.3x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.4% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAOSLIIULTA
Debt / assets 18.4% 34.6% 4.9%
Debt / equity 0.4x 1.2x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.4x 0.1x
Debt / FCF 1.2x 1.9x 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 50.1% 71.9% 62.0%
Equity / assets 49.9% 28.1% 38.0%
Interest coverage 26.4x 16.2x –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.2x 1.3x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.5x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 6.22 5.70 6.93

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAOSLIIULTA
Dividend yield 2.3% 1.5% –
Net buyback yield 3.8% 3.7% 4.3%
Shareholder yield 6.1% 5.3% 4.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 40.3% 24.4% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 35.5% 21.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.4% 8.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 6.1% –

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.

ConsensusAOSLIIULTA
Forward P/E 17.6xFY2026 15.4xFY2026 23.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.60FY2026 $22.65FY2026 $27.98FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -6.5%FY2026 -2.2%FY2026 +9.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.0% +7.9% +20.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.73BFY2026 $5.75BFY2026 $13.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.6%FY2026 +10.5%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.9% +7.7% +13.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAOSLIIULTA
Held by institutions 91.9% 77.3% 97.9%
Institutions holding 615 656 1,017
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.1% +1.8% +0.5%
Institutions buying 316 316 434
Institutions selling 226 236 434
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.34 1.00

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.

AOSLIIULTA
AOS 1.00 0.61 0.34
LII 0.61 1.00 0.18
ULTA 0.34 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AOS, LII and ULTA?

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smith A O (AOS) $8.54B, Lennox International (LII) $11.79B, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) $27.39B.

Which stock is cheaper, AOS, LII and ULTA?

Lennox International (LII) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smith A O (AOS) 17.3x, Lennox International (LII) 15.7x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 22.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lennox International (LII) is cheapest (Smith A O (AOS) 17.6x, Lennox International (LII) 15.4x, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 23.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ulta Beauty (ULTA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smith A O (AOS) -0.7%, Lennox International (LII) +1.9%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +11.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lennox International (LII) has the highest net margin (Smith A O (AOS) 13.0%, Lennox International (LII) 13.8%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 9.3%). On return on invested capital, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) leads (Smith A O (AOS) 20.8%, Lennox International (LII) 27.6%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 42.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ulta Beauty (ULTA) returned the most: Smith A O (AOS) -3.2%, Lennox International (LII) -28.6%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +28.1%. Over five years, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) compounded fastest (Smith A O (AOS) -2.8%/yr, Lennox International (LII) +3.1%/yr, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) +12.0%/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) 0.02%, Lennox International (LII) 0.02%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 0.00%. Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 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) 27.6%, Lennox International (LII) 42.8%, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) 35.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AOS, LII and ULTA?

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