AZZ vs WS vs MLI Stock Comparison

Azz, Worthington Steel and Mueller Industries Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AZZ Azz Inc
$133.41 -2.6% 1M +35.2% 1Y
Market cap
$4.12B
P/E
24.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.75B
Div. yield
–
Metal Fabrication Industrials
3 wins
WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$42.25 +16.7% 1M +34.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.13B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
0.02%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
3 wins
MLI Mueller Industries Inc
$54.40 -10.1% 1M -47.2% 1Y
Market cap
$11.90B
P/E
13.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.00B
Div. yield
0.01%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mueller Industries leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Mueller Industries 6, Worthington Steel 3, Azz 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAZZWSMLILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.12B $2.13B $11.90B MLI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.6x -55.7x 13.8x MLI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.1x 11.1x 13.5x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.5% +69.1% +20.8% WS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.6% -0.7% 17.3% MLI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.4% 0.2% 22.7% MLI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 19.9x -1.3x MLI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.01% WS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +35.2% +34.3% -47.2% AZZ
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +20.8%/yr — +15.9%/yr AZZ
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 32.1% 47.3% 132.0% AZZ
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 33/100 85/100 MLI

Percentile Scorecard

AZZWSMLI

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

AxisAZZWSMLI
Valuation 75 #52 of 203 59 #83 of 203 81 #39 of 203
Growth 63 #69 of 187 32 #127 of 187 67 #63 of 187
Profitability 72 #52 of 185 29 #131 of 185 96 #9 of 185
Financial Health 56 #98 of 219 10 #197 of 219 97 #7 of 219
Shareholder Returns 24 #117 of 153 34 #102 of 153 86 #22 of 153
Overall 58 33 85
  • AZZ ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MLI ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAZZWSMLISPY
1 month -2.6%+16.7%-10.1% -0.8%
3 months -10.2%+15.1%-15.2% +3.5%
6 months -7.9%+12.0%-60.1% +7.0%
Year to date +24.5%+22.0%-52.6% +12.2%
1 year +35.2%+34.3%-47.2% +13.0%
3 years +187.2%—+43.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year +42.2%—+12.9% +23.1%
5 years +157.4%—+109.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +20.8%—+15.9% +11.0%
10 years +149.6%—+258.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +9.6%—+13.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAZZWSMLISPY
Volatility, 1Y 32.1%47.3%132.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.2%49.8%165.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.171.640.70 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.100.72-0.36 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.8%-51.5%-61.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.7%-13.2%-61.4% -1.8%
52-week high $160.17$48.69$140.83 $779.14
52-week low $97.64$28.10$54.11 $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.

MultipleAZZWSMLI
P/E now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 26.0x -55.2xmedian 26.0x 13.7xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x 2.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.7xmedian 14.0x 42.0xmedian 14.0x 9.2xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.6xmedian 21.4x 46.3xmedian 21.4x 17.2xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 2.2x 1.3xmedian 2.2x 3.3xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.27median 1.26 1.70median 1.26 1.07median 1.26

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 monthsAZZWSMLI
Revenue $1.75B $5.30B $5.00B
Gross profit $423.83M $549.30M $1.36B
Operating income $287.42M $6.30M $1.08B
Net income $167.46M -$56.50M $871.57M
Free cash flow $214.45M $46.70M $689.59M
EPS (diluted) $5.56 $-0.77 $3.92
Cash & equivalents $1.95M $248.20M $1.45B
Total debt $468.47M $2.20B $5.24M
Shares (diluted) 30.12M 50.00M 220.12M
Enterprise value $4.12B $1.62B $6.21B

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
MetricAZZWSMLI
P/E 23.9x -55.2x 13.7x
P/FCF 18.6x 46.3x 17.2x
P/Operating cash flow 13.7x 10.7x 15.4x
P/S 2.3x 0.4x 2.4x
P/B 2.8x 1.3x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 4.0x 1.4x 3.7x
EV/EBITDA 11.7x 42.0x 9.2x
EV/EBIT 15.5x 652.7x 9.7x
EV/Revenue 2.6x 0.8x 2.1x
EV/FCF 20.8x 88.1x 15.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.3x 20.4x 13.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.27 1.70 1.07

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAZZWSMLI
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.5% 69.1% 20.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 15.5% 11.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.0% 36.2% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 13.4% 9.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 21.3% -95.9% 12.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.4% -65.2% 9.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -46.7% -144.9% 14.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 99.0% -34.5% 11.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -46.5% -132.7% 16.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 87.1% -32.5% 12.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -42.0% 18.9% 2.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 20.3% -10.4% 3.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -47.3% 50.2% 1.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 35.3% -41.1% 1.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAZZWSMLI
Gross margin 24.3% 10.4% 27.3%
EBITDA margin 21.8% 1.8% 22.5%
Operating margin 16.5% 0.1% 21.5%
Pretax margin 12.9% -0.2% 22.8%
Net margin 9.6% -0.7% 17.3%
FCF margin 12.3% 0.9% 13.8%
Operating cash flow margin 16.7% 3.8% 15.4%
Return on equity 12.0% -4.0% 24.5%
Return on assets 7.3% -1.4% 20.4%
Return on invested capital 11.4% 0.2% 22.7%
Return on capital employed 14.1% 0.3% 29.7%
Asset turnover 0.8x 1.3x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x -3.6x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.2% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAZZWSMLI
Debt / assets 20.0% 36.5% 0.1%
Debt / equity 0.3x 1.3x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 19.9x -1.3x
Debt / FCF 2.2x 47.0x 0.0x
Liabilities / assets 39.5% 72.8% 17.6%
Equity / assets 60.5% 27.2% 82.4%
Interest coverage 6.3x 0.5x 3,260x
Current ratio 1.8x 1.8x 4.4x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.8x 3.4x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.1x 2.3x
Altman Z-score 4.44 1.55 13.45

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAZZWSMLI
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.5% 1.2%
Net buyback yield – – 2.3%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 1.5% 3.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -57.9% 16.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 70.0% 20.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 2.2% 35.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 30.2%

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.

ConsensusAZZWSMLI
Forward P/E 18.1xFY2026 11.1xFY2026 13.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.37FY2026 $3.82FY2026 $4.03FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +19.1%FY2026 +71.3%FY2026 +17.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.1% +30.4% +10.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.97BFY2026 $10.90BFY2026 $5.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +19.4%FY2026 +217.0%FY2026 +20.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.1% +2.4% +10.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAZZWSMLI
Held by institutions 94.6% 56.3% 95.3%
Institutions holding 364 238 738
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.1% +1.2% +6.5%
Institutions buying 196 112 419
Institutions selling 119 68 226
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.65 1.85

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.

AZZWSMLI
AZZ 1.00 0.46 0.25
WS 0.46 1.00 0.19
MLI 0.25 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AZZ, WS and MLI?

Mueller Industries (MLI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Azz (AZZ) $4.12B, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.13B, Mueller Industries (MLI) $11.90B.

Which stock is cheaper, AZZ, WS and MLI?

Mueller Industries (MLI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Azz (AZZ) 24.6x, Worthington Steel (WS) -55.7x, Mueller Industries (MLI) 13.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Worthington Steel (WS) is cheapest (Azz (AZZ) 18.1x, Worthington Steel (WS) 11.1x, Mueller Industries (MLI) 13.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Azz (AZZ) +9.5%, Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%, Mueller Industries (MLI) +20.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mueller Industries (MLI) has the highest net margin (Azz (AZZ) 9.6%, Worthington Steel (WS) -0.7%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 17.3%). On return on invested capital, Mueller Industries (MLI) leads (Azz (AZZ) 11.4%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.2%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 22.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Azz (AZZ) returned the most: Azz (AZZ) +35.2%, Worthington Steel (WS) +34.3%, Mueller Industries (MLI) -47.2%. Over five years, Azz (AZZ) compounded fastest (Azz (AZZ) +20.8%/yr, Mueller Industries (MLI) +15.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Worthington Steel (WS) has the highest dividend yield: Azz (AZZ) 0.00%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.02%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 0.01%. Azz (AZZ) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Azz (AZZ) has been the steadiest (Azz (AZZ) 32.1%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.3%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 132.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AZZ, WS and MLI?

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