BW vs CECO vs LECO Stock Comparison

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Ceco Environmental and Lincoln Electric Holdings Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CECO Ceco Environmental Corp
$48.77 -35.0% 1M -4.1% 1Y
Market cap
$2.09B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$903.17M
Div. yield
–
Pollution Control Equipment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Lincoln Electric Holdings leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Lincoln Electric Holdings 5, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises 3, Ceco Environmental 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBWCECOLECOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $588.54M $2.09B $14.14B LECO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -17.7x -68.3x 25.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.6x 20.2x 22.0x CECO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +42.6% +37.6% +9.3% BW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.0% -3.4% 12.4% LECO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.3% -0.3% 21.4% LECO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.8x 23.5x 1.0x BW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +20.7% -4.1% +5.7% BW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.6%/yr +48.1%/yr +12.1%/yr CECO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 114.6% 67.3% 29.5% LECO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 49/100 57/100 LECO

Percentile Scorecard

BWCECOLECO

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

AxisBWCECOLECO
Valuation 62 #24 of 61 70 #7 of 21 39 #124 of 203
Growth 70 #18 of 58 28 #14 of 19 50 #94 of 188
Profitability 72 #16 of 55 56 #8 of 17 95 #11 of 187
Financial Health 37 #45 of 71 43 #13 of 22 46 #121 of 222
Shareholder Returns 10 #28 of 31 – 56 #68 of 153
Overall 50 49 57
  • BW ranked among 71 companies in Clean Energy Equipment
  • CECO ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBWCECOLECOSPY
1 month -37.7%-35.0%-3.6% -1.0%
3 months -56.9%-35.5%+1.8% +2.9%
6 months -71.4%-24.8%-1.6% +6.4%
Year to date -34.7%-18.5%+6.8% +11.4%
1 year +20.7%-4.1%+5.7% +13.1%
3 years +69.0%+214.0%+52.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year +19.1%+46.5%+15.1% +21.5%
5 years -36.3%+612.0%+77.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year -8.6%+48.1%+12.1% +10.9%
10 years -97.4%+364.0%+283.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year -30.5%+16.6%+14.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBWCECOLECOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 114.6%67.3%29.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 103.4%72.6%31.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.231.971.14 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.18-0.060.19 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -97.4%-51.1%-35.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -81.1%-51.1%-14.4% -2.5%
52-week high $21.85$99.67$298.88 $779.14
52-week low $3.16$47.44$220.64 $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.

MultipleBWCECOLECO
P/E now vs peer median -17.7xmedian 24.1x -69.0xmedian 25.9x 25.3xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 0.8xmedian 2.2x 2.3xmedian 2.5x 3.1xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.4xmedian 17.4x 98.0xmedian 19.3x 17.1xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median -10.6xmedian 27.4x -97.8xmedian 25.4x 25.7xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 10.7xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 2.0x 9.0xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -0.72median 0.76 1.31median 1.53 3.59median 1.19

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 monthsBWCECOLECO
Revenue $821.95M $903.17M $4.48B
Gross profit $160.14M $290.34M $1.61B
Operating income $22.49M -$5.38M $767.80M
Net income -$18.35M -$28.18M $553.55M
Free cash flow -$58.17M -$21.60M $542.40M
EPS (diluted) $-0.21 $-0.71 $10.05
Cash & equivalents $308.63M $61.10M $242.44M
Total debt $209.43M $1.41B $5.00B
Shares (diluted) 154.51M 43.31M 55.10M
Enterprise value $59.51M $1.92B $12.99B

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
MetricBWCECOLECO
P/E -17.7x -69.0x 25.3x
P/FCF -10.6x -97.8x 25.7x
P/Operating cash flow -17.8x -293.3x 20.3x
P/S 0.8x 2.3x 3.1x
P/B 10.7x 1.0x 9.0x
P/Tangible book 14.0x 2.0x 9.0x
EV/EBITDA 14.4x 98.0x 17.1x
EV/EBIT 23.0x -517.0x 19.4x
EV/Revenue 0.6x 3.1x 3.3x
EV/FCF -8.9x -128.7x 27.4x
EV/Operating cash flow -14.9x -385.8x 21.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.72 1.31 3.59

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBWCECOLECO
Revenue growth (1Y) 42.6% 37.6% 9.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.5% 24.6% 4.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 20.7% 25.6% 8.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -2.8% 26.1% 6.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 879.4% -105.5% 13.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.5% -30.3% 7.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 87.7% -152.2% 10.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 17.3% -53.8% 5.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 87.1% -149.3% 11.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 24.6% -52.7% 7.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 72.4% -196.9% 10.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -73.7% -29.1% 6.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 57.3% -27.1% 7.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -120.7% -36.0% 3.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBWCECOLECO
Gross margin 19.5% 32.1% 36.0%
EBITDA margin 4.4% 3.1% 19.4%
Operating margin 2.7% -0.6% 17.1%
Pretax margin -8.8% -3.9% 16.1%
Net margin -4.0% -3.4% 12.4%
FCF margin -7.1% -2.4% 12.1%
Operating cash flow margin -4.2% -0.8% 15.3%
Return on equity – -2.3% 36.1%
Return on assets -8.9% -1.2% 14.4%
Return on invested capital 14.3% -0.3% 21.4%
Return on capital employed 5.9% -0.3% 25.9%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.4x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 0.3x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 2.0% 2.2% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBWCECOLECO
Debt / assets 21.0% 19.5% 30.2%
Debt / equity 3.7x 0.3x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -2.8x 23.5x 1.0x
Debt / FCF -3.6x -33.7x 2.1x
Liabilities / assets 94.3% 44.3% 59.2%
Equity / assets 5.7% 55.7% 40.8%
Interest coverage 0.9x -0.2x –
Current ratio 1.5x 1.5x 2.0x
Quick ratio 1.1x 1.0x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.1x 0.3x
Altman Z-score -0.92 1.12 7.49

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBWCECOLECO
Dividend yield – – 1.2%
Net buyback yield -62.3% – 1.6%
Shareholder yield -62.3% 0.0% 2.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 30.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 31.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 7.0%

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.

ConsensusBWCECOLECO
Forward P/E 29.6xFY2026 20.2xFY2026 22.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.14FY2026 $2.41FY2026 $11.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +167.8%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +221.4% +27.4% +0.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.01BFY2026 $1.43BFY2026 $4.83BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +71.1%FY2026 +84.9%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +35.9% +31.3% +5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBWCECOLECO
Held by institutions 88.0% 88.3% 81.3%
Institutions holding 200 345 701
Change in shares held, QoQ +24.0% +64.8% +5.5%
Institutions buying 146 246 297
Institutions selling 41 71 266
Buyers to sellers 3.56 3.46 1.12

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.

BWCECOLECO
BW 1.00 0.35 0.17
CECO 0.35 1.00 0.27
LECO 0.17 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BW, CECO and LECO?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) $588.54M, Ceco Environmental (CECO) $2.09B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $14.14B.

Which company is growing faster?

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) +42.6%, Ceco Environmental (CECO) +37.6%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has the highest net margin (Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -4.0%, Ceco Environmental (CECO) -3.4%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 12.4%). On return on invested capital, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads (Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) 14.3%, Ceco Environmental (CECO) -0.3%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 21.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) returned the most: Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) +20.7%, Ceco Environmental (CECO) -4.1%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +5.7%. Over five years, Ceco Environmental (CECO) compounded fastest (Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) -8.6%/yr, Ceco Environmental (CECO) +48.1%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +12.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) 0.00%, Ceco Environmental (CECO) 0.00%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 0.01%. Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) and Ceco Environmental (CECO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has been the steadiest (Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW) 114.6%, Ceco Environmental (CECO) 67.3%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 29.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BW, CECO and LECO?

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