CR vs FLS vs IEX Stock Comparison

Crane, Flowserve and Idex Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CR Crane Co
$190.45 -7.9% 1M -0.7% 1Y
Market cap
$11.14B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.59B
Div. yield
–
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
3 wins
FLS Flowserve Corp
$69.54 -5.8% 1M +30.2% 1Y
Market cap
$9.05B
P/E
24.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.63B
Div. yield
–
Pumps and Valves Industrials
3 wins
IEX Idex Corp /De/
$231.02 +0.4% 1M +37.6% 1Y
Market cap
$17.21B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.59B
Div. yield
0.01%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Idex leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Idex 5, Flowserve 3, Crane 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRFLSIEXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.14B $9.05B $17.21B IEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.1x 24.4x 33.1x FLS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.6x 16.0x 25.3x FLS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +16.3% -0.3% +7.3% CR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.0% 8.0% 14.5% IEX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.7% 6.6% 9.6% CR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.4x 2.9x 1.3x IEX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.7% +30.2% +37.6% IEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +14.1%/yr +0.8%/yr FLS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.4% 48.9% 22.2% IEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 58/100 56/100 CR

Percentile Scorecard

CRFLSIEX

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

AxisCRFLSIEX
Valuation 53 #48 of 100 50 #102 of 203 36 #131 of 203
Growth 74 #26 of 97 69 #58 of 187 41 #110 of 187
Profitability 87 #13 of 96 54 #86 of 185 84 #30 of 185
Financial Health 64 #38 of 105 34 #146 of 219 73 #61 of 219
Shareholder Returns 54 #30 of 64 85 #24 of 153 46 #83 of 153
Overall 66 58 56
  • CR ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • FLS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • IEX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCRFLSIEXSPY
1 month -7.9%-5.8%+0.4% -0.8%
3 months -15.9%-4.3%+3.3% +3.5%
6 months +4.1%-20.9%+11.4% +7.0%
Year to date +3.3%+0.2%+29.8% +12.2%
1 year -0.7%+30.2%+37.6% +13.0%
3 years +108.7%+94.0%+21.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +27.8%+24.7%+6.6% +23.1%
5 years —+93.1%+4.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year —+14.1%+0.8% +11.0%
10 years —+58.9%+168.0% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+4.7%+10.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCRFLSIEXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.4%48.9%22.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.9%42.0%19.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.441.760.68 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.020.621.69 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.2%-39.0%-35.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.9%-24.4%-3.9% -1.8%
52-week high $226.38$92.04$240.52 $779.14
52-week low $160.86$52.66$161.68 $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.

MultipleCRFLSIEX
P/E now vs peer median 32.7xmedian 26.8x 23.9xmedian 26.0x 32.9xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 2.9x 1.9xmedian 1.9x 4.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.6xmedian 15.2x 21.0xmedian 14.0x 19.1xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 28.9xmedian 25.5x 21.5xmedian 21.4x 26.5xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 2.5x 3.8xmedian 2.2x 4.2xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.62median 0.94 1.40median 1.26 -10.07median 1.26

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 monthsCRFLSIEX
Revenue $2.59B $4.63B $3.59B
Gross profit $1.08B $1.57B $1.60B
Operating income $464.60M $392.30M $741.70M
Net income $336.10M $390.08M $519.50M
Free cash flow $380.30M $411.44M $641.50M
EPS (diluted) $5.73 $2.89 $7.00
Cash & equivalents $350.40M $731.01M $621.30M
Total debt $1.10B $2.14B $1.86B
Shares (diluted) 58.70M 128.36M 74.20M
Enterprise value $9.53B $5.93B $14.83B

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
MetricCRFLSIEX
P/E 32.7x 23.9x 32.9x
P/FCF 28.9x 21.5x 26.5x
P/Operating cash flow 25.7x 18.1x 23.8x
P/S 4.2x 1.9x 4.8x
P/B 5.0x 3.8x 4.2x
P/Tangible book 7.2x 4.5x 6.0x
EV/EBITDA 21.6x 21.0x 19.1x
EV/EBIT 25.3x 26.1x 24.6x
EV/Revenue 4.5x 2.2x 5.1x
EV/FCF 30.9x 24.9x 28.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.4x 21.0x 25.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.62 1.40 -10.07

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRFLSIEX
Revenue growth (1Y) 16.3% -0.3% 7.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 17.2% 5.3% 2.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.4% 4.3% 8.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 17.4% 10.8% 2.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 19.4% -22.5% 11.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 194.4% 11.5% -1.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -4.5% 24.0% 10.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 32.3% 15.9% -4.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -4.8% 30.5% 12.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 20.2% 17.1% -3.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 27.5% 1.6% 11.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 41.3% 81.4% 3.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 33.9% 3.1% 9.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 38.9% 348.1% 4.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRFLSIEX
Gross margin 41.7% 33.9% 44.7%
EBITDA margin 21.0% 10.5% 26.6%
Operating margin 17.9% 8.5% 20.7%
Pretax margin 17.1% 11.9% 19.0%
Net margin 13.0% 8.0% 14.5%
FCF margin 14.7% 8.9% 17.9%
Operating cash flow margin 16.5% 10.5% 20.0%
Return on equity 15.7% 16.9% 12.9%
Return on assets 8.3% 6.5% 7.5%
Return on invested capital 10.7% 6.6% 9.6%
Return on capital employed 13.2% 8.6% 11.7%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.3x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.9% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRFLSIEX
Debt / assets 27.3% 33.8% 26.8%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.9x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.4x 2.9x 1.3x
Debt / FCF 2.9x 5.2x 2.9x
Liabilities / assets 45.9% 63.2% 42.2%
Equity / assets 54.1% 36.8% 57.8%
Interest coverage 12.9x 4.6x –
Current ratio 2.8x 2.2x 3.0x
Quick ratio 1.6x 1.2x 2.0x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.5x 1.1x
Altman Z-score 5.45 3.55 5.51

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRFLSIEX
Dividend yield 0.5% 1.3% 1.3%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 2.6% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 0.6% 3.8% 3.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 41.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 33.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 1.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 5.0%

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.

ConsensusCRFLSIEX
Forward P/E 28.6xFY2026 16.0xFY2026 25.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.66FY2026 $4.34FY2026 $9.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.1%FY2026 +19.2%FY2026 +15.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.8% +12.0% +12.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.96BFY2026 $4.72BFY2026 $3.93BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.1%FY2026 -0.1%FY2026 +13.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.8% +5.3% +3.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRFLSIEX
Held by institutions 78.3% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 598 584 686
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.6% +14.6% +0.1%
Institutions buying 314 299 351
Institutions selling 187 201 201
Buyers to sellers 1.68 1.49 1.75

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.

CRFLSIEX
CR 1.00 0.50 0.49
FLS 0.50 1.00 0.48
IEX 0.49 0.48 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CR, FLS and IEX?

Idex (IEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Crane (CR) $11.14B, Flowserve (FLS) $9.05B, Idex (IEX) $17.21B.

Which stock is cheaper, CR, FLS and IEX?

Flowserve (FLS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Crane (CR) 33.1x, Flowserve (FLS) 24.4x, Idex (IEX) 33.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Flowserve (FLS) is cheapest (Crane (CR) 28.6x, Flowserve (FLS) 16.0x, Idex (IEX) 25.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Crane (CR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Crane (CR) +16.3%, Flowserve (FLS) -0.3%, Idex (IEX) +7.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idex (IEX) has the highest net margin (Crane (CR) 13.0%, Flowserve (FLS) 8.0%, Idex (IEX) 14.5%). On return on invested capital, Crane (CR) leads (Crane (CR) 10.7%, Flowserve (FLS) 6.6%, Idex (IEX) 9.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Idex (IEX) returned the most: Crane (CR) -0.7%, Flowserve (FLS) +30.2%, Idex (IEX) +37.6%. Over five years, Flowserve (FLS) compounded fastest (Flowserve (FLS) +14.1%/yr, Idex (IEX) +0.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Crane (CR) 0.00%, Flowserve (FLS) 0.00%, Idex (IEX) 0.01%. Crane (CR) and Flowserve (FLS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Idex (IEX) has been the steadiest (Crane (CR) 33.4%, Flowserve (FLS) 48.9%, Idex (IEX) 22.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CR, FLS and IEX?

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