CLMT vs IFF vs ESI Stock Comparison

Calumet, International Flavors & Fragrances and Element Solutions Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CLMT Calumet, Inc. /DE
$49.89 -7.0% 1M +148.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.37B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.59B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
3 wins
ESI Element Solutions Inc
$35.02 -1.9% 1M +32.3% 1Y
Market cap
$8.57B
P/E
41.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

International Flavors & Fragrances leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (International Flavors & Fragrances 5, Element Solutions 3, Calumet 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLMTIFFESILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.37B $23.06B $8.57B IFF
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -31.9x 33.1x 41.8x IFF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 28.4x 20.4x ESI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.8% -4.6% +39.6% ESI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.0% 7.0% 5.9% IFF
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.0% 3.0% 5.4% ESI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -12.3x 3.0x 3.2x CLMT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +148.1% +42.8% +32.3% CLMT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +35.8%/yr -8.9%/yr +9.1%/yr CLMT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.9% 35.0% 46.9% IFF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 51/100 51/100 IFF

Percentile Scorecard

CLMTIFFESI

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

AxisCLMTIFFESI
Valuation 33 #63 of 94 43 #54 of 94 39 #58 of 94
Growth 98 #3 of 91 82 #17 of 91 77 #22 of 91
Profitability 38 #54 of 86 59 #36 of 86 61 #34 of 86
Financial Health 7 #88 of 95 46 #52 of 95 48 #50 of 95
Shareholder Returns – 28 #51 of 70 30 #49 of 70
Overall 44 51 51
  • CLMT ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • IFF ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • ESI ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLMTIFFESISPY
1 month -7.0%+8.8%-1.9% -0.2%
3 months +20.3%+17.7%-4.1% +3.9%
6 months +63.5%+31.8%-9.7% +8.2%
Year to date +151.1%+38.4%+40.1% +12.9%
1 year +148.1%+42.8%+32.3% +12.3%
3 years +283.5%+37.4%+94.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +56.6%+11.2%+24.9% +23.3%
5 years +361.5%-37.2%+54.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year +35.8%-8.9%+9.1% +10.9%
10 years +1,266.8%-30.1%+365.1% +261.1%
10 years, per year +29.9%-3.5%+16.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCLMTIFFESISPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.9%35.0%46.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.2%28.6%47.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.080.682.18 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 3.371.220.69 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.9%-61.1%-40.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.5%-0.9%-28.7% -1.2%
52-week high $59.05$94.13$49.09 $779.14
52-week low $18.22$61.49$22.99 $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.

MultipleCLMTIFFESI
P/E now vs peer median -31.9xmedian 22.0x 34.2xmedian 22.0x 41.6xmedian 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.4x 2.4xmedian 1.4x 2.4xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -37.3xmedian 12.4x 17.0xmedian 12.4x 17.9xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 59.6xmedian 15.1x 44.1xmedian 15.1x 46.5xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median -3.9xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 1.6x 2.9xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.66 1.06median 1.66 0.75median 1.66

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 monthsCLMTIFFESI
Revenue $4.59B $9.98B $3.49B
Gross profit $301.50M $3.74B $1.28B
Operating income $47.10M $754.00M $408.70M
Net income -$136.80M $295.00M $205.20M
Free cash flow $73.50M $540.00M $182.90M
R&D – $684.00M $80.00M
EPS (diluted) $-1.56 $2.71 $0.84
Cash & equivalents $109.80M $569.00M $224.90M
Total debt $2.26B $5.70B $2.08B
Shares (diluted) 87.59M 257.00M 243.70M
Enterprise value $3.90B $20.72B $7.35B

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
MetricCLMTIFFESI
P/E -31.9x 34.2x 41.6x
P/FCF 59.6x 44.1x 46.5x
P/Operating cash flow 30.0x 20.5x 30.0x
P/S 1.0x 2.4x 2.4x
P/B -3.9x 1.7x 2.9x
P/Tangible book -3.9x 2.3x 4.5x
EV/EBITDA -37.3x 17.0x 17.9x
EV/EBIT 138.7x 38.4x 25.3x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 2.9x 3.0x
EV/FCF 88.9x 53.6x 56.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 44.7x 24.9x 36.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 1.06 0.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLMTIFFESI
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.8% -4.6% 39.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -5.6% 14.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 926.0% -3.8% 21.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -0.2% 11.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 125.6% 295.8% 17.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 35.2% 31.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 69.7% 170.2% -14.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 28.8% 56.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 70.0% 900.0% -15.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 32.3% 55.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 392.2% 5.4% -16.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 12.2% -4.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 159.8% -4.4% -32.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 26.8% -12.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLMTIFFESI
Gross margin 6.6% 37.5% 36.6%
EBITDA margin -3.8% 17.1% 16.6%
Operating margin 1.0% 7.6% 11.7%
Pretax margin -5.9% 3.5% 9.0%
Net margin -3.0% 7.0% 5.9%
FCF margin 1.6% 5.4% 5.2%
Operating cash flow margin 3.2% 11.6% 8.1%
Return on equity – 2.1% 7.2%
Return on assets -4.9% 1.2% 3.5%
Return on invested capital 2.0% 3.0% 5.4%
Return on capital employed 3.0% 3.6% 7.8%
Asset turnover 1.7x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -1.1x 3.9x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.9% 2.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLMTIFFESI
Debt / assets 80.6% 22.7% 35.5%
Debt / equity -2.0x 0.4x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -12.3x 3.0x 3.2x
Debt / FCF 30.7x 10.6x 11.4x
Liabilities / assets 140.6% 44.3% 50.7%
Equity / assets -40.6% 55.7% 49.3%
Interest coverage 0.2x 4.0x –
Current ratio 0.8x 2.1x 2.8x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.5x 1.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 1.29 1.81 2.56

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLMTIFFESI
Dividend yield – 1.7% 0.9%
Net buyback yield – 0.3% 0.5%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 2.0% 1.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 138.6% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 75.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 0.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -20.7% –

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.

ConsensusCLMTIFFESI
Forward P/E – 28.4xFY2026 20.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-1.93FY2026 $3.28FY2026 $1.72FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -21.9%FY2026 +15.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +23.5% +33.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.81BFY2026 $8.10BFY2026 $3.86BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.1%FY2026 -25.7%FY2026 +51.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.3% -8.1% +2.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLMTIFFESI
Held by institutions 52.3% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 188 753 499
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.2% +6.0% +0.6%
Institutions buying 110 410 269
Institutions selling 54 226 176
Buyers to sellers 2.04 1.81 1.53

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.

CLMTIFFESI
CLMT 1.00 -0.17 0.00
IFF -0.17 1.00 0.14
ESI 0.00 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLMT, IFF and ESI?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) is the largest by market capitalisation: Calumet (CLMT) $4.37B, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) $23.06B, Element Solutions (ESI) $8.57B.

Which stock is cheaper, CLMT, IFF and ESI?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Calumet (CLMT) -31.9x, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 33.1x, Element Solutions (ESI) 41.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Element Solutions (ESI) is cheapest (International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 28.4x, Element Solutions (ESI) 20.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Element Solutions (ESI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Calumet (CLMT) +12.8%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -4.6%, Element Solutions (ESI) +39.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has the highest net margin (Calumet (CLMT) -3.0%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 7.0%, Element Solutions (ESI) 5.9%). On return on invested capital, Element Solutions (ESI) leads (Calumet (CLMT) 2.0%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 3.0%, Element Solutions (ESI) 5.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Calumet (CLMT) returned the most: Calumet (CLMT) +148.1%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) +42.8%, Element Solutions (ESI) +32.3%. Over five years, Calumet (CLMT) compounded fastest (Calumet (CLMT) +35.8%/yr, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -8.9%/yr, Element Solutions (ESI) +9.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Calumet (CLMT) 0.00%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 0.02%, Element Solutions (ESI) 0.00%. Calumet (CLMT) and Element Solutions (ESI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has been the steadiest (Calumet (CLMT) 43.9%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 35.0%, Element Solutions (ESI) 46.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLMT, IFF and ESI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 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.