AVY vs SCIA vs SCL Stock Comparison

Avery Dennison, SCI Engineered Materials and Stepan Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AVY Avery Dennison Corp
$183.42 +7.7% 1M +1.0% 1Y
Market cap
$13.87B
P/E
19.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.25B
Div. yield
0.02%
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
5 wins
SCL Stepan Co
$64.96 +0.9% 1M +40.8% 1Y
Market cap
$1.50B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.43B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

SCI Engineered Materials leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (SCI Engineered Materials 6, Avery Dennison 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAVYSCIASCLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.87B $47.84M $1.50B AVY
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.7x 17.7x -3,417x SCIA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.3x — 23.0x AVY
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.8% +87.9% +7.6% SCIA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.6% 9.0% 0.0% SCIA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.3% — 1.1% AVY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x — 3.6x AVY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +1.0% +149.4% +40.8% SCIA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.5%/yr +17.7%/yr -11.4%/yr SCIA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.5% 62.3% 37.6% AVY
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 76/100 48/100 SCIA

Percentile Scorecard

AVYSCIASCL

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

AxisAVYSCIASCL
Valuation 60 #38 of 94 77 #22 of 94 68 #31 of 94
Growth 84 #16 of 92 93 #7 of 92 41 #55 of 92
Profitability 93 #7 of 89 89 #11 of 89 51 #44 of 89
Financial Health 33 #65 of 97 88 #13 of 97 37 #62 of 97
Shareholder Returns 77 #17 of 70 35 #46 of 70 46 #38 of 70
Overall 69 76 48
  • AVY ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • SCIA 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

PeriodAVYSCIASCLSPY
1 month +7.7%+17.6%+0.9% -0.8%
3 months +12.5%+50.4%+12.7% +3.5%
6 months +11.2%+111.6%+23.4% +7.0%
Year to date +0.8%+98.9%+37.2% +12.2%
1 year +1.0%+149.4%+40.8% +13.0%
3 years +7.6%+135.6%-12.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +2.5%+33.1%-4.5% +23.1%
5 years -11.9%+125.5%-45.4% +68.6%
5 years, per year -2.5%+17.7%-11.4% +11.0%
10 years +158.5%+1,147.1%-7.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year +10.0%+28.7%-0.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAVYSCIASCLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.5%62.3%37.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.7%49.9%41.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.480.560.65 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.042.401.09 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.3%-53.7%-67.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.1%0.0%-3.4% -1.8%
52-week high $197.45$10.60$67.23 $779.14
52-week low $153.01$4.17$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.

MultipleAVYSCIASCL
P/E now vs peer median 19.9xmedian 21.6x 17.4xmedian 21.6x -3,380xmedian 21.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.4x 1.6xmedian 1.4x 0.6xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.4xmedian 12.4x 10.7xmedian 12.4x 13.5xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.1xmedian 15.8x 17.4xmedian 15.8x 40.4xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 1.6x 3.1xmedian 1.6x 1.2xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 2.05median 1.66 1.42median 1.66 125.74median 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 monthsAVYSCIASCL
Revenue $9.25B $30.14M $2.43B
Gross profit $2.68B $7.11M $287.37M
Operating income $1.19B $3.06M $19.88M
Net income $704.90M $2.70M -$2.65M
Free cash flow $1.06B $2.79M $36.58M
R&D – $514.84K $62.12M
EPS (diluted) $9.23 $0.61 $-0.02
Cash & equivalents $227.30M $9.89M $113.71M
Total debt $14.80B – $2.58B
Shares (diluted) 76.40M 4.45M 22.92M
Enterprise value $12.64B $10.59M $997.94M

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
MetricAVYSCIASCL
P/E 19.9x 17.4x -3,380x
P/FCF 13.1x 17.4x 40.4x
P/Operating cash flow 11.3x 10.9x 9.5x
P/S 1.5x 1.6x 0.6x
P/B 6.0x 3.1x 1.2x
P/Tangible book 9.0x 3.1x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 11.4x 10.7x 13.5x
EV/EBIT 14.6x 12.4x 101.1x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 1.3x 0.8x
EV/FCF 16.3x 13.6x 55.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.1x 8.5x 13.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.05 1.42 125.74

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAVYSCIASCL
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.8% 87.9% 7.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.9% 6.6% -1.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.4% 57.9% 2.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 12.5% -4.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.9% 104.0% -74.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 6.8% -42.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -0.9% 84.7% -104.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 11.4% -26.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.6% 90.1% -46.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.7% 12.3% -26.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 51.6% 29.6% 42.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.6% 24.1% -0.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 67.3% -7.6% 401.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 31.2% 16.5% 30.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAVYSCIASCL
Gross margin 29.0% 23.6% 11.8%
EBITDA margin 16.5% 11.8% 6.1%
Operating margin 12.8% 10.2% 0.8%
Pretax margin 10.4% 11.7% 0.0%
Net margin 7.6% 9.0% 0.0%
FCF margin 11.5% 9.2% 1.5%
Operating cash flow margin 13.3% 14.8% 6.4%
Return on equity 30.5% 18.0% -0.2%
Return on assets 7.8% 12.6% -0.1%
Return on invested capital 14.3% – 1.1%
Return on capital employed 19.5% 19.3% 1.3%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.4x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 1.7x -58.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAVYSCIASCL
Debt / assets 39.9% – 27.1%
Debt / equity 1.6x – 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x – 3.6x
Debt / FCF 3.5x – 17.7x
Liabilities / assets 74.8% 31.4% 49.3%
Equity / assets 25.2% 68.6% 50.7%
Interest coverage 8.4x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 2.8x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.7x 2.1x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.9x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.58 6.57 2.59

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAVYSCIASCL
Dividend yield 2.1% – 2.5%
Net buyback yield 2.9% 0.6% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 5.1% 0.6% 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.

ConsensusAVYSCIASCL
Forward P/E 17.3xFY2026 – 23.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.61FY2026 – $2.83FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +11.3%FY2026 – +55.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.9% – +23.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.82BFY2026 – $2.38BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.9%FY2026 – +2.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.1% – +16.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAVYSCIASCL
Held by institutions 97.4% – 87.2%
Institutions holding 783 – 231
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% – +1.5%
Institutions buying 384 – 122
Institutions selling 272 – 68
Buyers to sellers 1.41 – 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.

AVYSCIASCL
AVY 1.00 0.11 0.34
SCIA 0.11 1.00 0.05
SCL 0.34 0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AVY, SCIA and SCL?

Avery Dennison (AVY) is the largest by market capitalisation: Avery Dennison (AVY) $13.87B, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) $47.84M, Stepan (SCL) $1.50B.

Which stock is cheaper, AVY, SCIA and SCL?

SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Avery Dennison (AVY) 19.7x, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) 17.7x, Stepan (SCL) -3,417x). On next year's consensus earnings, Avery Dennison (AVY) is cheapest (Avery Dennison (AVY) 17.3x, Stepan (SCL) 23.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Avery Dennison (AVY) +5.8%, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) +87.9%, Stepan (SCL) +7.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) has the highest net margin (Avery Dennison (AVY) 7.6%, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) 9.0%, Stepan (SCL) 0.0%). On return on invested capital, Avery Dennison (AVY) leads (Avery Dennison (AVY) 14.3%, Stepan (SCL) 1.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) returned the most: Avery Dennison (AVY) +1.0%, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) +149.4%, Stepan (SCL) +40.8%. Over five years, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) compounded fastest (Avery Dennison (AVY) -2.5%/yr, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) +17.7%/yr, Stepan (SCL) -11.4%/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%, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) 0.00%, Stepan (SCL) 0.00%. SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) 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) 23.5%, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) 62.3%, Stepan (SCL) 37.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AVY, SCIA 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, SCI Engineered Materials (SCIA) leads on 6. 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.