APG vs CTAS vs ECL Stock Comparison

APi, Cintas and Ecolab Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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APG APi Group Corp
$40.80 +6.1% 1M +17.7% 1Y
Market cap
$17.63B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$8.44B
Div. yield
–
Facility Services Industrials
4 wins
CTAS Cintas Corp
$214.80 +7.4% 1M +13.8% 1Y
Market cap
$85.82B
P/E
41.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.56B
Div. yield
0.87%
Facility Services Industrials
5 wins
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$291.28 +4.1% 1M +4.1% 1Y
Market cap
$81.65B
P/E
39.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
1.00%
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Cintas leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Cintas 5, APi 4, Ecolab 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAPGCTASECLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.63B $85.82B $81.65B CTAS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -71.2x 41.7x 39.3x ECL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.1x 36.7x 36.9x APG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.1% +9.5% +9.3% APG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -2.9% 17.8% — CTAS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.7% 28.2% — CTAS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.8x 0.7x — CTAS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.87% 1.00% ECL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +17.7% +13.8% +4.1% APG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +23.1%/yr +15.1%/yr +5.7%/yr APG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.0% 23.8% 21.9% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 60/100 55/100 CTAS

Percentile Scorecard

APGCTASECL

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

AxisAPGCTASECL
Valuation 27 #82 of 112 20 #90 of 112 35 #14 of 21
Growth 76 #24 of 96 71 #29 of 96 83 #4 of 19
Profitability 54 #42 of 91 98 #3 of 91 81 #4 of 17
Financial Health 46 #68 of 125 70 #38 of 125 19 #18 of 22
Shareholder Returns 17 #56 of 67 39 #41 of 67 –
Overall 44 60 55
  • APG ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • CTAS ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAPGCTASECLSPY
1 month +6.1%+7.4%+4.1% -0.2%
3 months +3.7%0.0%+2.8% +3.9%
6 months -16.2%+23.3%+9.1% +8.2%
Year to date +6.6%+14.2%+11.0% +12.9%
1 year +17.7%+13.8%+4.1% +12.3%
3 years +140.4%+73.1%+85.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year +34.0%+20.1%+22.8% +23.3%
5 years +182.4%+101.7%+31.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +23.1%+15.1%+5.7% +10.9%
10 years —+713.1%+153.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+23.3%+9.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAPGCTASECLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.0%23.8%21.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.0%24.3%22.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.280.110.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.590.580.19 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.6%-28.2%-44.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.4%-4.9%-5.5% -1.2%
52-week high $49.40$225.93$308.35 $779.14
52-week low $34.31$163.55$245.73 $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.

MultipleAPGCTASECL
P/E now vs peer median -71.2xmedian 21.2x 41.7xmedian 21.2x 39.3xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 0.9x 7.4xmedian 0.9x 4.7xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 11.9x 27.4xmedian 11.9x —median 16.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.1xmedian 13.7x 42.2xmedian 13.7x 41.5xmedian 23.6x
P/B now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 2.4x 16.5xmedian 2.4x 7.8xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.02median 1.00 2.75median 1.00 1.98median 1.68

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 monthsAPGCTASECL
Revenue $8.44B $11.56B $17.37B
Gross profit $2.65B $5.89B –
Operating income $605.00M $2.70B $2.90B
Net income $346.00M $2.06B –
Free cash flow $676.00M $2.03B –
EPS (diluted) $-0.57 $5.10 $7.38
Cash & equivalents $851.00M $243.60M $722.30M
Total debt $3.52B $2.43B –
Shares (diluted) 437.00M 404.29M 282.20M
Enterprise value $14.67B $84.90B $81.68B

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
MetricAPGCTASECL
P/E -71.2x 41.7x 39.3x
P/FCF 26.1x 42.2x 41.5x
P/Operating cash flow 22.5x 35.3x –
P/S 2.1x 7.4x 4.7x
P/B 5.0x 16.5x 7.8x
P/Tangible book 9.9x 17.4x 15.2x
EV/EBITDA 21.5x 27.4x –
EV/EBIT 33.6x 32.6x –
EV/Revenue 2.4x 7.6x 4.7x
EV/FCF 30.0x 43.3x –
EV/Operating cash flow 26.0x 36.2x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.02 2.75 1.98

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAPGCTASECL
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.1% 9.5% 9.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.3% 8.7% 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.4% 11.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 11.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 24.7% 11.8% 11.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 27.8% 13.2% 17.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 39.5% 11.3% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 40.8% 14.3% –
EPS growth (1Y) -272.3% 12.7% 6.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -69.5% 15.2% 19.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 20.7% 14.8% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 24.3% 14.4% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 18.8% 19.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.9% 17.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAPGCTASECL
Gross margin 31.4% 51.0% –
EBITDA margin 11.2% 27.8% –
Operating margin 7.2% 23.4% –
Pretax margin 5.5% 22.5% –
Net margin -2.9% 17.8% –
FCF margin 8.0% 17.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 9.3% 21.1% –
Return on equity 9.9% 39.8% 20.4%
Return on assets 3.7% 19.5% 6.9%
Return on invested capital 6.7% 28.2% –
Return on capital employed 8.7% 34.2% –
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.1x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 1.2x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 1.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAPGCTASECL
Debt / assets 35.4% 22.8% –
Debt / equity 1.0x 0.5x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.8x 0.7x –
Debt / FCF 5.2x 1.2x –
Liabilities / assets 64.7% 51.1% 66.4%
Equity / assets 35.3% 48.9% 33.6%
Interest coverage 4.3x 25.3x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.5x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.7x –
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 2.91 13.27 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAPGCTASECL
Dividend yield – 0.9% 1.0%
Net buyback yield 0.4% 1.2% –
Shareholder yield 0.4% 2.0% 1.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 35.2% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 35.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 14.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 15.5% –

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.

ConsensusAPGCTASECL
Forward P/E 24.1xFY2026 36.7xFY2026 36.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.69FY2026 $5.85FY2026 $7.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.2%FY2026 +18.4%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +16.0% +10.4% +23.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.25BFY2026 $12.98BFY2026 $17.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.9%FY2026 +15.3%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.4% +6.8% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAPGCTASECL
Held by institutions 84.5% 67.6% 80.0%
Institutions holding 581 1,430 1,710
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.1% +6.4% +1.4%
Institutions buying 306 657 762
Institutions selling 205 576 679
Buyers to sellers 1.49 1.14 1.12

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.

APGCTASECL
APG 1.00 0.10 0.31
CTAS 0.10 1.00 0.40
ECL 0.31 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, APG, CTAS and ECL?

Cintas (CTAS) is the largest by market capitalisation: APi (APG) $17.63B, Cintas (CTAS) $85.82B, Ecolab (ECL) $81.65B.

Which stock is cheaper, APG, CTAS and ECL?

Ecolab (ECL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (APi (APG) -71.2x, Cintas (CTAS) 41.7x, Ecolab (ECL) 39.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, APi (APG) is cheapest (APi (APG) 24.1x, Cintas (CTAS) 36.7x, Ecolab (ECL) 36.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

APi (APG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: APi (APG) +14.1%, Cintas (CTAS) +9.5%, Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cintas (CTAS) has the highest net margin (APi (APG) -2.9%, Cintas (CTAS) 17.8%). On return on invested capital, Cintas (CTAS) leads (APi (APG) 6.7%, Cintas (CTAS) 28.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year APi (APG) returned the most: APi (APG) +17.7%, Cintas (CTAS) +13.8%, Ecolab (ECL) +4.1%. Over five years, APi (APG) compounded fastest (APi (APG) +23.1%/yr, Cintas (CTAS) +15.1%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +5.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Ecolab (ECL) has the highest dividend yield: Cintas (CTAS) 0.87%, Ecolab (ECL) 1.00%. APi (APG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (APi (APG) 30.0%, Cintas (CTAS) 23.8%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, APG, CTAS and ECL?

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