CECO vs LECO vs FTEK Stock Comparison

Ceco Environmental, Lincoln Electric Holdings and Fuel Tech 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
3 wins
FTEK Fuel Tech, Inc.
$1.37 -17.0% 1M -52.3% 1Y
Market cap
$45.21M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$27.30M
Div. yield
–
Pollution Control Equipment Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Lincoln Electric Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Lincoln Electric Holdings 6, Ceco Environmental 3, Fuel Tech 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCECOLECOFTEKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.09B $14.14B $45.21M LECO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -68.3x 25.5x -13.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.2x 22.0x — CECO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +37.6% +9.3% +8.9% CECO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.4% 12.4% -12.7% LECO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -0.3% 21.4% — LECO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 23.5x 1.0x — LECO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.1% +5.7% -52.3% LECO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +48.1%/yr +12.1%/yr -7.8%/yr CECO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 67.3% 29.5% 68.6% LECO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 57/100 57/100 FTEK

Percentile Scorecard

CECOLECOFTEK

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

AxisCECOLECOFTEK
Valuation 70 #7 of 21 39 #124 of 203 60 #9 of 21
Growth 28 #14 of 19 50 #94 of 188 33 #13 of 19
Profitability 56 #8 of 17 95 #11 of 187 63 #7 of 17
Financial Health 43 #13 of 22 46 #121 of 222 91 #3 of 22
Shareholder Returns – 56 #68 of 153 40 #7 of 11
Overall 49 57 57
  • CECO ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • FTEK ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCECOLECOFTEKSPY
1 month -35.0%-3.6%-17.0% -1.0%
3 months -35.5%+1.8%-11.0% +2.9%
6 months -24.8%-1.6%+1.5% +6.4%
Year to date -18.5%+6.8%-12.2% +11.4%
1 year -4.1%+5.7%-52.3% +13.1%
3 years +214.0%+52.4%+35.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +46.5%+15.1%+10.7% +21.5%
5 years +612.0%+77.1%-33.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year +48.1%+12.1%-7.8% +10.9%
10 years +364.0%+283.8%+2.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +16.6%+14.4%+0.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCECOLECOFTEKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 67.3%29.5%68.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 72.6%31.1%65.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.971.141.00 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.060.19-0.76 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.1%-35.3%-67.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -51.1%-14.4%-52.3% -2.5%
52-week high $99.67$298.88$2.87 $779.14
52-week low $47.44$220.64$1.19 $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.

MultipleCECOLECOFTEK
P/E now vs peer median -69.0xmedian 25.9x 25.3xmedian 25.9x -12.3xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 2.5x 3.1xmedian 1.9x 1.6xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 98.0xmedian 19.3x 17.1xmedian 13.7x -6.0xmedian 19.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median -97.8xmedian 25.4x 25.7xmedian 21.1x -36.1xmedian 25.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 2.0x 9.0xmedian 2.3x 1.1xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.31median 1.53 3.59median 1.19 0.41median 1.53

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 monthsCECOLECOFTEK
Revenue $903.17M $4.48B $27.30M
Gross profit $290.34M $1.61B $12.21M
Operating income -$5.38M $767.80M -$4.58M
Net income -$28.18M $553.55M -$3.48M
Free cash flow -$21.60M $542.40M -$1.18M
R&D – – $2.12M
EPS (diluted) $-0.71 $10.05 $-0.11
Cash & equivalents $61.10M $242.44M $7.62M
Total debt $1.41B $5.00B –
Shares (diluted) 43.31M 55.10M 31.18M
Enterprise value $1.92B $12.99B -$46.72M

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
MetricCECOLECOFTEK
P/E -69.0x 25.3x -12.3x
P/FCF -97.8x 25.7x -36.1x
P/Operating cash flow -293.3x 20.3x -201.7x
P/S 2.3x 3.1x 1.6x
P/B 1.0x 9.0x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 9.0x 1.2x
EV/EBITDA 98.0x 17.1x -6.0x
EV/EBIT -517.0x 19.4x -5.1x
EV/Revenue 3.1x 3.3x 0.8x
EV/FCF -128.7x 27.4x -19.6x
EV/Operating cash flow -385.8x 21.6x -109.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.31 3.59 0.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCECOLECOFTEK
Revenue growth (1Y) 37.6% 9.3% 8.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 24.6% 4.2% -0.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 25.6% 8.0% 9.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 26.1% 6.2% 2.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -105.5% 13.0% -0.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -30.3% 7.0% -30.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -152.2% 10.1% -7.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -53.8% 5.0% -31.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -149.3% 11.8% -6.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -52.7% 7.0% -29.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -196.9% 10.1% -129.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -29.1% 6.8% 35.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -27.1% 7.4% -367.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -36.0% 3.7% -6.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCECOLECOFTEK
Gross margin 32.1% 36.0% 44.7%
EBITDA margin 3.1% 19.4% -14.0%
Operating margin -0.6% 17.1% -16.8%
Pretax margin -3.9% 16.1% -12.7%
Net margin -3.4% 12.4% -12.7%
FCF margin -2.4% 12.1% -4.3%
Operating cash flow margin -0.8% 15.3% -0.8%
Return on equity -2.3% 36.1% -9.2%
Return on assets -1.2% 14.4% -7.9%
Return on invested capital -0.3% 21.4% –
Return on capital employed -0.3% 25.9% -11.8%
Asset turnover 0.4x 1.2x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.3x 1.2x 0.1x
Stock comp / revenue 2.2% 0.5% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCECOLECOFTEK
Debt / assets 19.5% 30.2% –
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA 23.5x 1.0x –
Debt / FCF -33.7x 2.1x –
Liabilities / assets 44.3% 59.2% 13.5%
Equity / assets 55.7% 40.8% 86.5%
Interest coverage -0.2x – –
Current ratio 1.5x 2.0x 5.1x
Quick ratio 1.0x 1.0x 5.0x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.3x 4.0x
Altman Z-score 1.12 7.49 1.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCECOLECOFTEK
Dividend yield – 1.2% –
Net buyback yield – 1.6% 0.1%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 2.8% 0.1%
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.

ConsensusCECOLECOFTEK
Forward P/E 20.2xFY2026 22.0xFY2026 –
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% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.43BFY2026 $4.83BFY2026 $27.36MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +84.9%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026 +2.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +31.3% +5.7% +28.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCECOLECOFTEK
Held by institutions 88.3% 81.3% 23.6%
Institutions holding 345 701 43
Change in shares held, QoQ +64.8% +5.5% -2.7%
Institutions buying 246 297 17
Institutions selling 71 266 9
Buyers to sellers 3.46 1.12 1.89

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.

CECOLECOFTEK
CECO 1.00 0.27 0.23
LECO 0.27 1.00 0.07
FTEK 0.23 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CECO, LECO and FTEK?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ceco Environmental (CECO) $2.09B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $14.14B, Fuel Tech (FTEK) $45.21M.

Which company is growing faster?

Ceco Environmental (CECO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ceco Environmental (CECO) +37.6%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +9.3%, Fuel Tech (FTEK) +8.9%.

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%, Fuel Tech (FTEK) -12.7%). On return on invested capital, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads (Ceco Environmental (CECO) -0.3%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 21.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) returned the most: Ceco Environmental (CECO) -4.1%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +5.7%, Fuel Tech (FTEK) -52.3%. Over five years, Ceco Environmental (CECO) compounded fastest (Ceco Environmental (CECO) +48.1%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +12.1%/yr, Fuel Tech (FTEK) -7.8%/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%, Fuel Tech (FTEK) 0.00%. Ceco Environmental (CECO) and Fuel Tech (FTEK) 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%, Fuel Tech (FTEK) 68.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.