ECL vs FERG vs IDXX Stock Comparison

Ecolab, Ferguson Enterprises and Idexx Laboratories Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$292.52 +4.3% 1M +9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$81.99B
P/E
39.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
1.00%
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Idexx Laboratories leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Idexx Laboratories 5, Ferguson Enterprises 4, Ecolab 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionECLFERGIDXXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $81.99B $44.80B $44.40B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 39.4x 22.1x 39.0x FERG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 37.0x 21.6x 36.0x FERG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% +5.2% +12.8% IDXX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 6.5% 25.0% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 21.7% 45.6% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.0x 0.5x IDXX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.00% 1.54% — FERG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.0% -6.6% -11.3% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.7%/yr +8.8%/yr -3.3%/yr FERG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.5% 29.8% 32.0% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 66/100 78/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

ECLFERGIDXX

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

AxisECLFERGIDXX
Valuation 30 #15 of 21 42 #27 of 46 75 #155 of 625
Growth 83 #4 of 19 76 #10 of 39 76 #147 of 602
Profitability 75 #5 of 17 87 #6 of 39 97 #18 of 549
Financial Health 19 #18 of 22 50 #24 of 47 46 #351 of 654
Shareholder Returns – 74 #9 of 32 93 #26 of 367
Overall 52 66 78
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • IDXX ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodECLFERGIDXXSPY
1 month +4.3%+1.5%+6.4% +0.9%
3 months +3.0%+2.0%-1.2% +5.9%
6 months +14.0%-9.9%+1.7% +8.5%
Year to date +11.4%+3.7%-16.8% +13.3%
1 year +9.0%-6.6%-11.3% +12.4%
3 years +85.8%+52.1%+43.8% +88.1%
3 years, per year +23.0%+15.0%+12.9% +23.5%
5 years +31.6%+52.6%-15.5% +68.2%
5 years, per year +5.7%+8.8%-3.3% +11.0%
10 years +154.1%+335.4%+435.8% +263.4%
10 years, per year +9.8%+15.9%+18.3% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureECLFERGIDXXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.5%29.8%32.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.2%30.9%31.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.481.130.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.42-0.22-0.35 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-43.6%-51.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.1%-13.8%-26.6% -0.9%
52-week high $308.35$267.71$766.68 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$214.24$504.70 $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.

MultipleECLFERGIDXX
P/E now vs peer median 39.4xmedian 25.5x 22.1xmedian 25.6x 39.0xmedian 17.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.4x 1.4xmedian 1.1x 9.8xmedian 9.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 19.0x 15.1xmedian 13.3x 28.0xmedian 17.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 41.5xmedian 23.0x 19.8xmedian 22.0x 35.4xmedian 19.0x
P/B now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 2.0x 7.6xmedian 2.6x 27.5xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.99median 1.69 —median 2.36 2.58median 0.34

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 monthsECLFERGIDXX
Revenue $17.37B $31.35B $4.55B
Gross profit – $9.73B $2.84B
Operating income $2.90B $2.82B $1.46B
Net income – $2.03B $1.14B
Free cash flow – $2.26B $1.25B
R&D – – $261.47M
EPS (diluted) $7.38 $10.42 $14.37
Cash & equivalents $722.30M $820.00M $196.93M
Total debt – $4.13B $968.86M
Shares (diluted) 282.20M 194.80M 79.31M
Enterprise value $82.02B $42.02B $43.61B

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
MetricECLFERGIDXX
P/E 39.4x 22.1x 39.0x
P/FCF 41.5x 19.8x 35.4x
P/Operating cash flow – 17.1x 32.4x
P/S 4.7x 1.4x 9.8x
P/B 7.8x 7.6x 27.5x
P/Tangible book 15.3x 8.6x 29.3x
EV/EBITDA – 15.1x 28.0x
EV/EBIT – 17.1x 31.0x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 1.5x 9.9x
EV/FCF – 21.2x 36.0x
EV/Operating cash flow – 18.4x 32.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.99 – 2.58

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLFERGIDXX
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% 5.2% 12.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% – 9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 7.5% 14.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 10.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.3% 17.6% 16.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% – 11.7%
Net income growth (1Y) – 31.6% 15.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – – 12.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.1% 34.4% 18.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% – 15.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 35.9% 51.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 22.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 42.8% 59.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 28.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLFERGIDXX
Gross margin – 31.0% 62.4%
EBITDA margin – 10.2% 35.4%
Operating margin – 9.0% 32.0%
Pretax margin – 8.3% 31.3%
Net margin – 6.5% 25.0%
FCF margin – 7.2% 27.5%
Operating cash flow margin – 8.3% 30.1%
Return on equity 20.4% 34.0% 71.9%
Return on assets 6.9% 11.4% 33.4%
Return on invested capital – 21.7% 45.6%
Return on capital employed – 23.4% 68.6%
Asset turnover 0.6x 1.8x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.3x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLFERGIDXX
Debt / assets – 23.2% 28.1%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.0x 0.5x
Debt / FCF – 1.8x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 66.4% 67.0% 53.2%
Equity / assets 33.6% 33.0% 46.8%
Interest coverage – – 38.6x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.8x 1.2x
Quick ratio – 0.8x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 5.42 20.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLFERGIDXX
Dividend yield 1.0% 1.5% –
Net buyback yield – 1.9% 2.4%
Shareholder yield 1.0% 3.4% 2.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusECLFERGIDXX
Forward P/E 37.0xFY2026 21.6xFY2026 36.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 $10.68FY2026 $15.63FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 +7.4%FY2026 +19.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.2% +20.5% +12.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.26BFY2026 $34.30BFY2026 $5.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% -0.7% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLFERGIDXX
Held by institutions 80.0% 96.3% 93.6%
Institutions holding 1,711 937 1,289
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +2.1% +4.1%
Institutions buying 763 477 587
Institutions selling 679 343 496
Buyers to sellers 1.12 1.39 1.18

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.

ECLFERGIDXX
ECL 1.00 0.46 0.45
FERG 0.46 1.00 0.34
IDXX 0.45 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL, FERG and IDXX?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $81.99B, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $44.80B, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $44.40B.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL, FERG and IDXX?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 39.4x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.1x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 39.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 37.0x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.6x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 36.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +12.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) has the highest net margin (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 25.0%). On return on invested capital, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +9.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -6.6%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -11.3%. Over five years, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +5.7%/yr, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +8.8%/yr, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -3.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has the highest dividend yield: Ecolab (ECL) 1.00%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 1.54%. Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Ecolab (ECL) 21.5%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 29.8%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 32.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ECL, FERG and IDXX?

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