BLGO vs ECL vs FERG Stock Comparison

Biolargo, Ecolab and Ferguson Enterprises Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BLGO Biolargo, Inc.
$0.07 -22.2% 1M -56.3% 1Y
Market cap
$21.83M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.08M
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
1 win
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$288.57 +4.3% 1M +4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$81.05B
P/E
38.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.84B
Div. yield
0.01%
Water Treatment Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ecolab leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Ecolab 5, Ferguson Enterprises 5, Biolargo 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBLGOECLFERGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $21.83M $81.05B $44.66B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -1.5x 38.3x 22.0x FERG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 36.5x 21.2x FERG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -70.9% +7.1% +5.2% ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -354.8% 12.6% 6.5% ECL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 11.0% 21.7% FERG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.2x 2.1x 1.0x BLGO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -56.3% +4.9% -7.4% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -16.3%/yr +5.4%/yr +8.7%/yr FERG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 91.9% 21.9% 29.9% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 11/100 66/100 67/100 FERG

Percentile Scorecard

BLGOECLFERG

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

AxisBLGOECLFERG
Valuation 10 #19 of 21 50 #11 of 21 49 #24 of 46
Growth 0 #19 of 19 83 #4 of 19 76 #10 of 39
Profitability 6 #16 of 17 88 #3 of 17 87 #6 of 40
Financial Health 10 #20 of 22 48 #12 of 22 48 #26 of 49
Shareholder Returns 30 #8 of 11 60 #5 of 11 74 #9 of 32
Overall 11 66 67
  • BLGO ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBLGOECLFERGSPY
1 month -22.2%+4.3%+2.6% -1.0%
3 months -41.7%+7.4%-1.6% +2.9%
6 months -53.3%+7.1%-13.9% +6.4%
Year to date -61.1%+9.9%+1.9% +11.4%
1 year -56.3%+4.9%-7.4% +13.1%
3 years -58.8%+80.1%+48.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year -25.6%+21.7%+14.1% +21.5%
5 years -58.8%+30.3%+51.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year -16.3%+5.4%+8.7% +10.9%
10 years -89.9%+149.2%+308.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year -20.5%+9.6%+15.1% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBLGOECLFERGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 91.9%21.9%29.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 135.9%22.0%30.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.270.481.13 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.610.23-0.25 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.5%-44.3%-43.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -65.0%-6.4%-15.2% -2.5%
52-week high $0.20$308.35$267.71 $779.14
52-week low $0.07$245.73$214.24 $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.

MultipleBLGOECLFERG
P/E now vs peer median -1.6xmedian 25.9x 38.3xmedian 25.9x 21.8xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 5.6xmedian 2.5x 4.8xmedian 2.5x 1.4xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -1.4xmedian 19.3x 22.9xmedian 19.3x 14.8xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -2.2xmedian 25.4x 43.2xmedian 25.4x 19.5xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median -8.4xmedian 2.0x 8.0xmedian 2.0x 7.5xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.53 1.72median 1.53 —median 2.37

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 monthsBLGOECLFERG
Revenue $4.08M $16.84B $31.35B
Gross profit $1.63M $7.43B $9.73B
Operating income -$18.12M $2.85B $2.82B
Net income -$18.79M $2.13B $2.03B
Free cash flow -$10.56M $1.87B $2.26B
R&D $3.27M – –
EPS (diluted) – $7.50 $10.42
Cash & equivalents $2.19M $5.14B $820.00M
Total debt $4.85M $38.40B $4.13B
Shares (diluted) – 282.20M 194.80M
Enterprise value $7.09M $72.79B $41.88B

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
MetricBLGOECLFERG
P/E -1.6x 38.3x 21.8x
P/FCF -2.2x 43.2x 19.5x
P/Operating cash flow -2.2x 26.5x 16.8x
P/S 5.6x 4.8x 1.4x
P/B -8.4x 8.0x 7.5x
P/Tangible book -8.4x 12.2x 8.4x
EV/EBITDA -1.4x 22.9x 14.8x
EV/EBIT -1.4x 31.2x 16.8x
EV/Revenue 6.3x 5.3x 1.5x
EV/FCF -2.4x 47.4x 20.9x
EV/Operating cash flow -2.5x 29.1x 18.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 1.72 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBLGOECLFERG
Revenue growth (1Y) -70.9% 7.1% 5.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -22.5% 4.5% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -74.4% 7.5% 7.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -27.8% 9.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -185.8% -1.4% 17.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -60.3% 18.4% –
Net income growth (1Y) -184.9% -1.0% 31.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -62.6% 21.3% –
EPS growth (1Y) – 0.2% 34.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 22.3% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -37.9% 16.5% 35.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -62.1% 13.9% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -40.8% 19.1% 42.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -57.1% 12.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBLGOECLFERG
Gross margin 40.0% 44.1% 31.0%
EBITDA margin -434.2% 23.1% 10.2%
Operating margin -443.9% 16.9% 9.0%
Pretax margin -458.1% 15.6% 8.3%
Net margin -354.8% 12.6% 6.5%
FCF margin -258.6% 11.1% 7.2%
Operating cash flow margin -252.8% 18.1% 8.3%
Return on equity – 21.2% 34.0%
Return on assets -246.7% 7.8% 11.4%
Return on invested capital – 11.0% 21.7%
Return on capital employed -635.4% 13.3% 23.4%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 1.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.5x 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 59.3% 0.8% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBLGOECLFERG
Debt / assets 72.8% 44.0% 23.2%
Debt / equity -1.8x 1.3x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.2x 2.1x 1.0x
Debt / FCF -0.5x 7.0x 1.8x
Liabilities / assets 140.9% 66.3% 67.0%
Equity / assets -40.9% 33.7% 33.0%
Interest coverage -22.5x 17.6x –
Current ratio 0.7x 1.8x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.5x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.9x 0.1x
Altman Z-score -42.03 4.15 5.39

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBLGOECLFERG
Dividend yield – 1.0% 1.6%
Net buyback yield -2.5% 1.3% 1.9%
Shareholder yield -2.5% 2.3% 3.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 37.4% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 42.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 13.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 9.3% –

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.

ConsensusBLGOECLFERG
Forward P/E – 36.5xFY2026 21.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.05FY2026 $7.90FY2026 $10.70FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +4.9%FY2026 +7.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +23.3% +20.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.48MFY2026 $17.24BFY2026 $34.27BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -29.4%FY2026 +7.2%FY2026 +11.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +180.2% +5.4% -0.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBLGOECLFERG
Held by institutions – 80.0% 96.3%
Institutions holding – 1,710 937
Change in shares held, QoQ – +1.4% +2.1%
Institutions buying – 762 477
Institutions selling – 679 343
Buyers to sellers – 1.12 1.39

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.

BLGOECLFERG
BLGO 1.00 0.03 0.00
ECL 0.03 1.00 0.45
FERG 0.00 0.45 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BLGO, ECL and FERG?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Biolargo (BLGO) $21.83M, Ecolab (ECL) $81.05B, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $44.66B.

Which stock is cheaper, BLGO, ECL and FERG?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Biolargo (BLGO) -1.5x, Ecolab (ECL) 38.3x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 36.5x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ecolab (ECL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Biolargo (BLGO) -70.9%, Ecolab (ECL) +7.1%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ecolab (ECL) has the highest net margin (Biolargo (BLGO) -354.8%, Ecolab (ECL) 12.6%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%). On return on invested capital, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads (Ecolab (ECL) 11.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Biolargo (BLGO) -56.3%, Ecolab (ECL) +4.9%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -7.4%. Over five years, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) compounded fastest (Biolargo (BLGO) -16.3%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +5.4%/yr, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +8.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Biolargo (BLGO) 0.00%, Ecolab (ECL) 0.01%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 0.00%. Biolargo (BLGO) and Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Biolargo (BLGO) 91.9%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.9%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 29.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BLGO, ECL and FERG?

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