AVY vs ESI vs SCL Stock Comparison

Avery Dennison, Element Solutions and Stepan Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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AVY Avery Dennison Corp
$181.77 +6.7% 1M +0.7% 1Y
Market cap
$13.85B
P/E
19.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.25B
Div. yield
0.02%
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
8 wins
ESI Element Solutions Inc
$35.02 -1.9% 1M +32.3% 1Y
Market cap
$8.56B
P/E
41.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
2 wins
SCL Stepan Co
$65.34 +1.5% 1M +44.3% 1Y
Market cap
$1.53B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.43B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Avery Dennison leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Avery Dennison 8, Element Solutions 2, Stepan 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAVYESISCLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.85B $8.56B $1.53B AVY
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.7x 41.8x -3,469x AVY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.1x 20.4x 23.1x AVY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.8% +39.6% +7.6% ESI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.6% 5.9% 0.0% AVY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.3% 5.4% 1.1% AVY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 3.2x 3.6x AVY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.7% +32.3% +44.3% SCL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.3%/yr +9.1%/yr -11.5%/yr ESI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.4% 46.9% 37.5% AVY
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 51/100 49/100 AVY

Percentile Scorecard

AVYESISCL

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

AxisAVYESISCL
Valuation 60 #38 of 94 39 #58 of 94 69 #30 of 94
Growth 84 #15 of 91 77 #22 of 91 41 #54 of 91
Profitability 93 #7 of 86 61 #34 of 86 53 #41 of 86
Financial Health 34 #63 of 95 48 #50 of 95 36 #61 of 95
Shareholder Returns 75 #18 of 70 30 #49 of 70 45 #39 of 70
Overall 69 51 49
  • AVY ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • ESI ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • SCL ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAVYESISCLSPY
1 month +6.7%-1.9%+1.5% -0.2%
3 months +7.4%-4.1%+12.7% +3.9%
6 months +9.2%-9.7%+32.5% +8.2%
Year to date -0.1%+40.1%+38.0% +12.9%
1 year +0.7%+32.3%+44.3% +12.3%
3 years +6.6%+94.6%-12.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year +2.1%+24.9%-4.3% +23.3%
5 years -15.6%+54.3%-45.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year -3.3%+9.1%-11.5% +10.9%
10 years +158.3%+365.1%-7.0% +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.0%+16.6%-0.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAVYESISCLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.4%46.9%37.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.6%47.4%41.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.482.180.65 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.030.691.18 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.3%-40.3%-67.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-28.7%-2.8% -1.2%
52-week high $197.45$49.09$67.23 $779.14
52-week low $153.01$22.99$42.31 $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.

MultipleAVYESISCL
P/E now vs peer median 19.7xmedian 22.0x 41.6xmedian 22.0x -3,400xmedian 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.4x 2.4xmedian 1.4x 0.6xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 12.4x 17.9xmedian 12.4x 13.5xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.0xmedian 15.1x 46.5xmedian 15.1x 40.6xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 1.6x 2.9xmedian 1.6x 1.2xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 2.03median 1.66 0.75median 1.66 126.47median 1.66

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 monthsAVYESISCL
Revenue $9.25B $3.49B $2.43B
Gross profit $2.68B $1.28B $287.37M
Operating income $1.19B $408.70M $19.88M
Net income $704.90M $205.20M -$2.65M
Free cash flow $1.06B $182.90M $36.58M
R&D – $80.00M $62.12M
EPS (diluted) $9.23 $0.84 $-0.02
Cash & equivalents $227.30M $224.90M $113.71M
Total debt $14.80B $2.08B $2.58B
Shares (diluted) 76.40M 243.70M 22.92M
Enterprise value $12.63B $7.35B $1.02B

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
MetricAVYESISCL
P/E 19.7x 41.6x -3,400x
P/FCF 13.0x 46.5x 40.6x
P/Operating cash flow 11.2x 30.0x 9.6x
P/S 1.5x 2.4x 0.6x
P/B 5.9x 2.9x 1.2x
P/Tangible book 8.9x 4.5x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 11.3x 17.9x 13.5x
EV/EBIT 14.5x 25.3x 101.5x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 3.0x 0.8x
EV/FCF 16.2x 56.6x 55.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.0x 36.5x 13.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.03 0.75 126.47

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAVYESISCL
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.8% 39.6% 7.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.9% 14.4% -1.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.4% 21.5% 2.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 11.7% -4.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.9% 17.6% -74.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 31.9% -42.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -0.9% -14.4% -104.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 56.0% -26.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.6% -15.0% -46.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.7% 55.8% -26.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 51.6% -16.0% 42.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.6% -4.2% -0.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 67.3% -32.2% 401.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 31.2% -12.3% 30.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAVYESISCL
Gross margin 29.0% 36.6% 11.8%
EBITDA margin 16.5% 16.6% 6.1%
Operating margin 12.8% 11.7% 0.8%
Pretax margin 10.4% 9.0% 0.0%
Net margin 7.6% 5.9% 0.0%
FCF margin 11.5% 5.2% 1.5%
Operating cash flow margin 13.3% 8.1% 6.4%
Return on equity 30.5% 7.2% -0.2%
Return on assets 7.8% 3.5% -0.1%
Return on invested capital 14.3% 5.4% 1.1%
Return on capital employed 19.5% 7.8% 1.3%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.6x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 1.4x -58.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 2.4% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAVYESISCL
Debt / assets 39.9% 35.5% 27.1%
Debt / equity 1.6x 0.7x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 3.2x 3.6x
Debt / FCF 3.5x 11.4x 17.7x
Liabilities / assets 74.8% 50.7% 49.3%
Equity / assets 25.2% 49.3% 50.7%
Interest coverage 8.4x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 2.8x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.7x 1.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.57 2.56 2.59

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAVYESISCL
Dividend yield 2.1% 0.9% 2.4%
Net buyback yield 3.0% 0.5% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 5.1% 1.4% 2.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 41.7% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 27.7% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.4% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 5.9% – –

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.

ConsensusAVYESISCL
Forward P/E 17.1xFY2026 20.4xFY2026 23.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.61FY2026 $1.72FY2026 $2.83FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +11.3%FY2026 +15.4%FY2026 +55.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.9% +33.7% +23.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.82BFY2026 $3.86BFY2026 $2.38BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.9%FY2026 +51.4%FY2026 +2.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.1% +2.3% +16.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAVYESISCL
Held by institutions 97.4% 100.0% 87.2%
Institutions holding 783 499 231
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +0.6% +1.5%
Institutions buying 384 269 122
Institutions selling 272 176 68
Buyers to sellers 1.41 1.53 1.79

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.

AVYESISCL
AVY 1.00 0.13 0.34
ESI 0.13 1.00 0.21
SCL 0.34 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AVY, ESI and SCL?

Avery Dennison (AVY) is the largest by market capitalisation: Avery Dennison (AVY) $13.85B, Element Solutions (ESI) $8.56B, Stepan (SCL) $1.53B.

Which stock is cheaper, AVY, ESI and SCL?

Avery Dennison (AVY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Avery Dennison (AVY) 19.7x, Element Solutions (ESI) 41.8x, Stepan (SCL) -3,469x). On next year's consensus earnings, Avery Dennison (AVY) is cheapest (Avery Dennison (AVY) 17.1x, Element Solutions (ESI) 20.4x, Stepan (SCL) 23.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Element Solutions (ESI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Avery Dennison (AVY) +5.8%, Element Solutions (ESI) +39.6%, Stepan (SCL) +7.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Avery Dennison (AVY) has the highest net margin (Avery Dennison (AVY) 7.6%, Element Solutions (ESI) 5.9%, Stepan (SCL) 0.0%). On return on invested capital, Avery Dennison (AVY) leads (Avery Dennison (AVY) 14.3%, Element Solutions (ESI) 5.4%, Stepan (SCL) 1.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Stepan (SCL) returned the most: Avery Dennison (AVY) +0.7%, Element Solutions (ESI) +32.3%, Stepan (SCL) +44.3%. Over five years, Element Solutions (ESI) compounded fastest (Avery Dennison (AVY) -3.3%/yr, Element Solutions (ESI) +9.1%/yr, Stepan (SCL) -11.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Avery Dennison (AVY) 0.02%, Element Solutions (ESI) 0.00%, Stepan (SCL) 0.00%. Element Solutions (ESI) and Stepan (SCL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Avery Dennison (AVY) has been the steadiest (Avery Dennison (AVY) 23.4%, Element Solutions (ESI) 46.9%, Stepan (SCL) 37.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AVY, ESI and SCL?

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