CDZI vs AWK vs ECL Stock Comparison

Cadiz, American Water Works Company and Ecolab Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CDZI Cadiz Inc
$4.71 +31.6% 1M -14.5% 1Y
Market cap
$396.40M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$14.34M
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$300.86 +8.3% 1M +16.9% 1Y
Market cap
$84.39B
P/E
40.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
0.97%
Water Treatment Industrials
8 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Ecolab leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Ecolab 8, American Water Works Company 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCDZIAWKECLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $396.40M $28.31B $84.39B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -9.7x 24.9x 40.5x AWK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 24.9x 38.1x AWK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% +5.4% +9.3% ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -286.1% 21.3% 12.0% AWK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 6.0% 10.0% ECL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 5.5x 3.1x ECL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 2.43% 0.97% AWK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -14.5% +9.3% +16.9% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.0%/yr -4.0%/yr +6.3%/yr ECL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 66.6% 22.4% 21.2% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 23/100 48/100 64/100 ECL

Percentile Scorecard

CDZIAWKECL

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

AxisCDZIAWKECL
Valuation 15 #18 of 21 5 #64 of 67 50 #11 of 21
Growth 39 #12 of 19 47 #35 of 65 83 #4 of 19
Profitability 20 #13 of 16 90 #7 of 63 93 #2 of 16
Financial Health 20 #17 of 21 39 #38 of 62 25 #16 of 21
Shareholder Returns – 58 #29 of 67 67 #4 of 10
Overall 23 48 64
  • CDZI ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • AWK ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCDZIAWKECLSPY
1 month +31.6%+9.5%+8.3% +0.7%
3 months +50.0%+3.9%+7.7% +3.7%
6 months +8.8%+10.7%+15.4% +7.1%
Year to date -16.0%+8.9%+14.6% +12.8%
1 year -14.5%+9.3%+16.9% +11.9%
3 years +60.2%+21.8%+89.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +17.0%+6.8%+23.7% +22.8%
5 years -22.4%-18.4%+35.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year -5.0%-4.0%+6.3% +10.9%
10 years -36.8%+96.0%+161.4% +262.0%
10 years, per year -4.5%+7.0%+10.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCDZIAWKECLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 66.6%22.4%21.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 64.2%20.4%20.4% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.44-0.460.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.220.420.79 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -75.0%-39.7%-44.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -31.9%-0.8%-2.4% -1.2%
52-week high $6.92$143.25$308.35 $779.14
52-week low $2.98$121.13$245.73 $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.

MultipleCDZIAWKECL
P/E now vs peer median -9.7xmedian 25.4x 24.9xmedian 20.5x 40.5xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 27.6xmedian 2.5x 5.3xmedian 2.9x 4.9xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.9x 15.2xmedian 13.1x 24.3xmedian 17.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 22.3x -24.5xmedian 40.5x 47.0xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 85.0xmedian 1.8x 2.4xmedian 1.7x 8.1xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 2.30median 1.73 3.80median 2.14 2.04median 1.73

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 monthsCDZIAWKECL
Revenue $14.34M $5.34B $17.37B
Gross profit $4.25M – $7.63B
Operating income -$26.90M $1.98B $2.90B
Net income -$35.98M $1.14B $2.10B
Free cash flow – -$1.16B $1.80B
EPS (diluted) $-1,199.69 $5.71 $7.38
Cash & equivalents $5.32M $121.00M $722.30M
Total debt $278.50M $16.34B $13.19B
Shares (diluted) 34.19K 199.00M 282.10M
Enterprise value $364.85M $27.76B $77.40B

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
MetricCDZIAWKECL
P/E -9.7x 24.9x 40.5x
P/FCF – -24.5x 47.0x
P/Operating cash flow – 12.3x 27.9x
P/S 27.6x 5.3x 4.9x
P/B 85.0x 2.4x 8.1x
P/Tangible book 85.0x 2.4x 15.8x
EV/EBITDA – 15.2x 24.3x
EV/EBIT -17.8x 22.5x 33.4x
EV/Revenue 33.3x 8.3x 5.6x
EV/FCF – -38.5x 54.0x
EV/Operating cash flow – 19.4x 32.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.30 3.80 2.04

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCDZIAWKECL
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% 5.4% 9.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 89.3% 8.9% 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -12.7% – 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 97.5% – 8.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -8.9% 5.6% 11.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -12.0% 10.5% 17.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -9.9% 2.2% 4.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.9% 7.3% 18.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -8.4% 0.1% 6.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -4.2% 6.6% 19.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 12.9% 15.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 10.8% 7.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -23.5% 15.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -13.7% 1.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCDZIAWKECL
Gross margin 29.6% – 43.9%
EBITDA margin – 54.9% 22.9%
Operating margin -187.6% 37.0% 16.7%
Pretax margin -250.5% 27.0% 15.0%
Net margin -286.1% 21.3% 12.0%
FCF margin – -21.7% 10.3%
Operating cash flow margin – 43.0% 17.4%
Return on equity -257.3% 9.6% 20.4%
Return on assets -26.1% 3.1% 6.9%
Return on invested capital – 6.0% 10.0%
Return on capital employed -21.0% 6.0% 12.0%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.1x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.0x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCDZIAWKECL
Debt / assets 64.5% 43.9% 42.4%
Debt / equity 18.6x 1.4x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 5.5x 3.1x
Debt / FCF – -14.1x 7.3x
Liabilities / assets 96.5% 68.0% 66.4%
Equity / assets 3.5% 32.0% 33.6%
Interest coverage -2.9x 3.0x 8.0x
Current ratio 1.2x 0.4x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.3x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score -6.11 1.03 3.96

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCDZIAWKECL
Dividend yield – 2.4% 1.0%
Net buyback yield – – 1.1%
Shareholder yield – 2.4% 2.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 59.4% 39.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – -58.3% 45.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 8.7% 12.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 9.5% 9.7%

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.

ConsensusCDZIAWKECL
Forward P/E – 24.9xFY2026 38.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.54FY2026 $5.72FY2026 $7.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +0.5%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +10.8% +23.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.61MFY2026 $5.14BFY2026 $17.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -47.2%FY2026 +0.0%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +109.5% +9.9% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCDZIAWKECL
Held by institutions 46.7% 100.0% 80.0%
Institutions holding 117 1,129 1,712
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.0% +8.0% +1.4%
Institutions buying 54 531 764
Institutions selling 39 416 679
Buyers to sellers 1.38 1.28 1.13

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.

CDZIAWKECL
CDZI 1.00 0.03 0.10
AWK 0.03 1.00 0.28
ECL 0.10 0.28 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CDZI, AWK and ECL?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cadiz (CDZI) $396.40M, American Water Works Company (AWK) $28.31B, Ecolab (ECL) $84.39B.

Which stock is cheaper, CDZI, AWK and ECL?

American Water Works Company (AWK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cadiz (CDZI) -9.7x, American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.9x, Ecolab (ECL) 40.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, American Water Works Company (AWK) is cheapest (American Water Works Company (AWK) 24.9x, Ecolab (ECL) 38.1x). 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: Cadiz (CDZI) -4.8%, American Water Works Company (AWK) +5.4%, Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Water Works Company (AWK) has the highest net margin (Cadiz (CDZI) -286.1%, American Water Works Company (AWK) 21.3%, Ecolab (ECL) 12.0%). On return on invested capital, Ecolab (ECL) leads (American Water Works Company (AWK) 6.0%, Ecolab (ECL) 10.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Cadiz (CDZI) -14.5%, American Water Works Company (AWK) +9.3%, Ecolab (ECL) +16.9%. Over five years, Ecolab (ECL) compounded fastest (Cadiz (CDZI) -5.0%/yr, American Water Works Company (AWK) -4.0%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +6.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

American Water Works Company (AWK) has the highest dividend yield: American Water Works Company (AWK) 2.43%, Ecolab (ECL) 0.97%. Cadiz (CDZI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Cadiz (CDZI) 66.6%, American Water Works Company (AWK) 22.4%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CDZI, AWK and ECL?

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 8. 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.