ECL vs NSSC vs BMI Stock Comparison

Ecolab, Napco Security Technologies and Badger Meter Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$292.52 +4.3% 1M +9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$83.97B
P/E
40.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins
BMI Badger Meter Inc
$144.07 +14.0% 1M -22.3% 1Y
Market cap
$4.21B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$881.24M
Div. yield
0.01%
Water Treatment Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Napco Security Technologies leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Napco Security Technologies 5, Ecolab 3, Badger Meter 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionECLNSSCBMILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $83.97B $1.42B $4.21B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 40.3x 33.0x 33.2x NSSC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 37.0x 24.6x 30.5x NSSC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% +11.4% -2.2% NSSC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 21.3% 14.4% NSSC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.0% -9.9% -22.3% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.7%/yr +10.6%/yr +7.1%/yr NSSC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.5% 40.9% 49.8% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 65/100 70/100 BMI

Percentile Scorecard

ECLNSSCBMI

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

AxisECLNSSCBMI
Valuation 30 #15 of 21 32 #77 of 113 60 #9 of 21
Growth 83 #4 of 19 79 #21 of 96 61 #8 of 19
Profitability 75 #5 of 17 100 #1 of 92 94 #2 of 17
Financial Health 19 #18 of 22 96 #6 of 125 62 #9 of 22
Shareholder Returns – 17 #56 of 67 75 #3 of 9
Overall 52 65 70
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • NSSC ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • BMI ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodECLNSSCBMISPY
1 month +4.3%+13.1%+14.0% +0.9%
3 months +3.0%+9.0%+7.9% +5.9%
6 months +14.0%-12.2%+22.2% +8.5%
Year to date +11.4%-4.9%-17.4% +13.3%
1 year +9.0%-9.9%-22.3% +12.4%
3 years +85.8%+106.9%+4.5% +88.1%
3 years, per year +23.0%+27.4%+1.5% +23.5%
5 years +31.6%+65.4%+40.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year +5.7%+10.6%+7.1% +11.0%
10 years +154.1%+1,033.1%+354.5% +263.4%
10 years, per year +9.8%+27.5%+16.3% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureECLNSSCBMISPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.5%40.9%49.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.2%43.4%56.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.481.220.65 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.42-0.24-0.45 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-65.8%-55.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.1%-16.0%-23.3% -0.9%
52-week high $308.35$47.23$187.87 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$34.96$113.41 $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.

MultipleECLNSSCBMI
P/E now vs peer median 39.4xmedian 25.5x 32.9xmedian 21.5x 32.7xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.4x 7.0xmedian 0.9x 4.7xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 19.0x 26.8xmedian 11.9x 19.9xmedian 19.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 41.5xmedian 23.0x 24.0xmedian 13.9x 28.9xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 2.0x 7.4xmedian 2.3x 6.3xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.99median 1.69 1.85median 0.92 2.21median 1.69

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 monthsECLNSSCBMI
Revenue $17.37B $202.32M $881.24M
Gross profit – $119.79M $366.94M
Operating income $2.90B $45.64M $165.34M
Net income – $43.03M $126.53M
Free cash flow – $59.23M $142.39M
R&D – $13.79M –
EPS (diluted) $7.38 $1.20 $4.38
Cash & equivalents $722.30M $126.93M $67.93M
Shares (diluted) 282.20M 35.89M 28.87M
Enterprise value $83.97B $937.16M $3.61B

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
MetricECLNSSCBMI
P/E 39.4x 32.9x 32.7x
P/FCF 41.5x 24.0x 28.9x
P/Operating cash flow – 23.2x 25.9x
P/S 4.7x 7.0x 4.7x
P/B 7.8x 7.4x 6.3x
P/Tangible book 15.3x 7.5x 8.3x
EV/EBITDA – 26.8x 19.9x
EV/EBIT – 28.1x 24.5x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 6.3x 4.6x
EV/FCF – 21.6x 28.4x
EV/Operating cash flow – 21.0x 25.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.99 1.85 2.21

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLNSSCBMI
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% 11.4% -2.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 6.0% 9.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 18.6% -1.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 17.8% 11.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.3% -1.3% -7.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% 14.6% 15.1%
Net income growth (1Y) – -0.9% -8.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 16.6% 14.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.1% 0.8% -6.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% 17.8% 14.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 14.2% -12.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 35.3% 15.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 15.2% -14.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 39.7% 16.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLNSSCBMI
Gross margin – 59.2% 41.6%
EBITDA margin – 23.6% 23.1%
Operating margin – 22.6% 18.8%
Pretax margin – 24.6% 19.1%
Net margin – 21.3% 14.4%
FCF margin – 29.3% 16.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 30.2% 18.0%
Return on equity 20.4% 23.3% 19.0%
Return on assets 6.9% 18.7% 13.0%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – 24.3% 20.1%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.9x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLNSSCBMI
Debt / assets – – –
Debt / equity – – –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets 66.4% 20.0% 31.0%
Equity / assets 33.6% 80.0% 69.0%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 1.1x 4.9x 2.5x
Quick ratio – 4.1x 1.2x
Cash ratio – 3.2x 0.5x
Altman Z-score – 21.47 11.28

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLNSSCBMI
Dividend yield 1.0% 1.5% 1.1%
Net buyback yield – 0.0% 2.9%
Shareholder yield 1.0% 1.5% 4.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 37.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 33.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 14.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 19.8%

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.

ConsensusECLNSSCBMI
Forward P/E 37.0xFY2026 24.6xFY2027 30.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 $1.61FY2027 $4.73FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 +0.6%FY2027 -1.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.2% +19.3% +10.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.26BFY2026 $208.17MFY2027 $930.20MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +2.9%FY2027 +1.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +9.1% +10.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLNSSCBMI
Held by institutions 80.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,711 259 479
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +4.2% +7.9%
Institutions buying 763 136 254
Institutions selling 679 89 157
Buyers to sellers 1.12 1.53 1.62

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.

ECLNSSCBMI
ECL 1.00 0.25 0.20
NSSC 0.25 1.00 0.23
BMI 0.20 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL, NSSC and BMI?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $83.97B, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) $1.42B, Badger Meter (BMI) $4.21B.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL, NSSC and BMI?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 40.3x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 33.0x, Badger Meter (BMI) 33.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 37.0x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 24.6x, Badger Meter (BMI) 30.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +11.4%, Badger Meter (BMI) -2.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) has the highest net margin (Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 21.3%, Badger Meter (BMI) 14.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +9.0%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) -9.9%, Badger Meter (BMI) -22.3%. Over five years, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +5.7%/yr, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +10.6%/yr, Badger Meter (BMI) +7.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Ecolab (ECL) 0.00%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 0.00%, Badger Meter (BMI) 0.01%. Ecolab (ECL) and Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Ecolab (ECL) 21.5%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 40.9%, Badger Meter (BMI) 49.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ECL, NSSC and BMI?

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