AVY vs IFF vs LWLG Stock Comparison

Avery Dennison, International Flavors & Fragrances and Lightwave Logic Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AVY Avery Dennison Corp
$181.77 +6.7% 1M +0.7% 1Y
Market cap
$13.80B
P/E
19.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.25B
Div. yield
2.13%
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
10 wins
LWLG Lightwave Logic, Inc.
$4.60 -13.4% 1M -5.9% 1Y
Market cap
$709.17M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Avery Dennison leads on 10 of the 12 questions below (Avery Dennison 10, International Flavors & Fragrances 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAVYIFFLWLGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.80B $23.80B $709.17M IFF
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.7x 34.2x — AVY
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.1x 28.4x — AVY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.8% -4.6% — AVY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.6% 7.0% — AVY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.3% 3.0% — AVY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 3.0x — AVY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.13% 1.72% — AVY
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.7% +42.8% -5.9% IFF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.3%/yr -8.9%/yr -16.7%/yr AVY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.4% 35.0% 118.6% AVY
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 51/100 — AVY

Percentile Scorecard

AVYIFFLWLG

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

AxisAVYIFFLWLG
Valuation 60 #38 of 94 43 #54 of 94 –
Growth 84 #15 of 91 82 #17 of 91 –
Profitability 93 #7 of 86 59 #36 of 86 –
Financial Health 34 #63 of 95 46 #52 of 95 –
Shareholder Returns 75 #18 of 70 28 #51 of 70 4 #67 of 70
Overall 69 51 –
  • AVY ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • IFF ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • LWLG ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAVYIFFLWLGSPY
1 month +6.7%+8.8%-13.4% -0.2%
3 months +7.4%+17.7%-20.1% +3.9%
6 months +9.2%+31.8%-60.2% +8.2%
Year to date -0.1%+38.4%+42.0% +12.9%
1 year +0.7%+42.8%-5.9% +12.3%
3 years +6.6%+37.4%-3.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year +2.1%+11.2%-1.3% +23.3%
5 years -15.6%-37.2%-60.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year -3.3%-8.9%-16.7% +10.9%
10 years +158.3%-30.1%+666.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.0%-3.5%+22.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAVYIFFLWLGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.4%35.0%118.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.6%28.6%113.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.480.683.69 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.031.22-0.05 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.3%-61.1%-95.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-0.9%-74.8% -1.2%
52-week high $197.45$94.13$18.22 $779.14
52-week low $153.01$61.49$2.97 $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.

MultipleAVYIFFLWLG
P/E now vs peer median 19.7xmedian 22.0x 34.2xmedian 22.0x —median 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.4x 2.4xmedian 1.4x —median 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 12.4x 17.0xmedian 12.4x —median 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.0xmedian 15.1x 44.1xmedian 15.1x —median 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 1.6x —median 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 2.03median 1.66 1.06median 1.66 —median 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 monthsAVYIFFLWLG
Revenue $9.25B $9.98B –
Gross profit $2.68B $3.74B –
Operating income $1.19B $754.00M –
Net income $704.90M $295.00M –
Free cash flow $1.06B $540.00M –
R&D – $684.00M –
EPS (diluted) $9.23 $2.71 –
Cash & equivalents $227.30M $569.00M –
Total debt $14.80B $5.70B –
Shares (diluted) 76.40M 257.00M 153.48M
Enterprise value $12.58B $21.50B $709.17M

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
MetricAVYIFFLWLG
P/E 19.7x 34.2x –
P/FCF 13.0x 44.1x –
P/Operating cash flow 11.2x 20.5x –
P/S 1.5x 2.4x –
P/B 5.9x 1.7x –
P/Tangible book 8.9x 2.3x –
EV/EBITDA 11.3x 17.0x –
EV/EBIT 14.5x 38.4x –
EV/Revenue 1.9x 2.9x –
EV/FCF 16.2x 53.6x –
EV/Operating cash flow 14.0x 24.9x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.03 1.06 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAVYIFFLWLG
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.8% -4.6% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.9% -5.6% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.4% -3.8% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.6% -0.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.9% 295.8% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 35.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) -0.9% 170.2% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 28.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) 1.6% 900.0% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.7% 32.3% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 51.6% 5.4% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.6% 12.2% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 67.3% -4.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 31.2% 26.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAVYIFFLWLG
Gross margin 29.0% 37.5% –
EBITDA margin 16.5% 17.1% –
Operating margin 12.8% 7.6% –
Pretax margin 10.4% 3.5% –
Net margin 7.6% 7.0% –
FCF margin 11.5% 5.4% –
Operating cash flow margin 13.3% 11.6% –
Return on equity 30.5% 2.1% –
Return on assets 7.8% 1.2% –
Return on invested capital 14.3% 3.0% –
Return on capital employed 19.5% 3.6% –
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.4x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 3.9x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.9% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAVYIFFLWLG
Debt / assets 39.9% 22.7% –
Debt / equity 1.6x 0.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 3.0x –
Debt / FCF 3.5x 10.6x –
Liabilities / assets 74.8% 44.3% –
Equity / assets 25.2% 55.7% –
Interest coverage 8.4x 4.0x –
Current ratio 1.1x 2.1x –
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.5x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 3.57 1.81 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAVYIFFLWLG
Dividend yield 2.1% 1.7% –
Net buyback yield 3.0% 0.3% -8.1%
Shareholder yield 5.1% 2.0% -8.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 41.7% 138.6% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 27.7% 75.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.4% 0.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 5.9% -20.7% –

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.

ConsensusAVYIFFLWLG
Forward P/E 17.1xFY2026 28.4xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $10.61FY2026 $3.28FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +11.3%FY2026 -21.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +7.9% +23.5% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.82BFY2026 $8.10BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +10.9%FY2026 -25.7%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +0.1% -8.1% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAVYIFFLWLG
Held by institutions 97.4% 100.0% 37.8%
Institutions holding 783 753 173
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +6.0% +39.6%
Institutions buying 384 410 122
Institutions selling 272 226 30
Buyers to sellers 1.41 1.81 4.07

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.

AVYIFFLWLG
AVY 1.00 0.58 -0.10
IFF 0.58 1.00 -0.06
LWLG -0.10 -0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AVY, IFF and LWLG?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) is the largest by market capitalisation: Avery Dennison (AVY) $13.80B, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) $23.80B, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) $709.17M.

Which stock is cheaper, AVY, IFF and LWLG?

Avery Dennison (AVY) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Avery Dennison (AVY) 19.7x, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 34.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Avery Dennison (AVY) is cheapest (Avery Dennison (AVY) 17.1x, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 28.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Avery Dennison (AVY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Avery Dennison (AVY) +5.8%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -4.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Avery Dennison (AVY) has the highest net margin (Avery Dennison (AVY) 7.6%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 7.0%). On return on invested capital, Avery Dennison (AVY) leads (Avery Dennison (AVY) 14.3%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 3.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) returned the most: Avery Dennison (AVY) +0.7%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) +42.8%, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) -5.9%. Over five years, Avery Dennison (AVY) compounded fastest (Avery Dennison (AVY) -3.3%/yr, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -8.9%/yr, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) -16.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Avery Dennison (AVY) has the highest dividend yield: Avery Dennison (AVY) 2.13%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 1.72%. Lightwave Logic (LWLG) 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%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 35.0%, Lightwave Logic (LWLG) 118.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AVY, IFF and LWLG?

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 10. 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.