CECO vs LECO vs BW Stock Comparison

Ceco Environmental, Lincoln Electric Holdings and Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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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.

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

Percentile Scorecard

CECOLECOBW

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

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

Price Performance

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

Returns

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

Risk

MeasureCECOLECOBWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 67.3%29.5%114.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 72.6%31.1%103.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.971.143.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.060.190.18 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.1%-35.3%-97.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -51.1%-14.4%-81.1% -2.5%
52-week high $99.67$298.88$21.85 $779.14
52-week low $47.44$220.64$3.16 $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.

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

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

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

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

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

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCECOLECOBW
Dividend yield – 1.2% –
Net buyback yield – 1.6% -62.3%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 2.8% -62.3%
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.

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

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

CECOLECOBW
CECO 1.00 0.27 0.35
LECO 0.27 1.00 0.17
BW 0.35 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CECO, LECO and BW?

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

Which company is growing faster?

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

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

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

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

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

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

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.