ECL vs NSSC vs CDZI Stock Comparison

Ecolab, Napco Security Technologies and Cadiz Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (BMI) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$300.86 +8.3% 1M +16.9% 1Y
Market cap
$84.73B
P/E
40.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
0.01%
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins
CDZI Cadiz Inc
$4.71 +31.6% 1M -14.5% 1Y
Market cap
$374.87M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$14.34M
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Napco Security Technologies leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Napco Security Technologies 6, Ecolab 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionECLNSSCCDZILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $84.73B $1.40B $374.87M ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 40.7x 32.5x -9.1x NSSC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.1x 24.8x — NSSC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% +11.4% -4.8% NSSC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.0% 21.3% -286.1% NSSC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.0% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +16.9% -8.6% -14.5% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.3%/yr +10.8%/yr -5.0%/yr NSSC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.2% 40.9% 66.6% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 64/100 23/100 NSSC

Percentile Scorecard

ECLNSSCCDZI

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

AxisECLNSSCCDZI
Valuation 50 #11 of 21 30 #80 of 113 15 #18 of 21
Growth 83 #4 of 19 80 #20 of 96 39 #12 of 19
Profitability 93 #2 of 16 100 #1 of 91 20 #13 of 16
Financial Health 25 #16 of 21 96 #6 of 122 20 #17 of 21
Shareholder Returns 67 #4 of 10 15 #56 of 66 –
Overall 64 64 23
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • NSSC ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • CDZI ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodECLNSSCCDZISPY
1 month +8.3%+12.4%+31.6% +0.7%
3 months +7.7%+9.9%+50.0% +3.7%
6 months +15.4%-14.5%+8.8% +7.1%
Year to date +14.6%-4.1%-16.0% +12.8%
1 year +16.9%-8.6%-14.5% +11.9%
3 years +89.0%+117.3%+60.2% +85.2%
3 years, per year +23.7%+29.5%+17.0% +22.8%
5 years +35.4%+66.7%-22.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year +6.3%+10.8%-5.0% +10.9%
10 years +161.4%+1,042.3%-36.8% +262.0%
10 years, per year +10.1%+27.6%-4.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureECLNSSCCDZISPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.2%40.9%66.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.4%43.6%64.2% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.481.211.44 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.79-0.21-0.22 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-65.8%-75.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.4%-15.4%-31.9% -1.2%
52-week high $308.35$47.23$6.92 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$34.96$2.98 $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.

MultipleECLNSSCCDZI
P/E now vs peer median 40.5xmedian 25.4x 33.2xmedian 21.9x -9.7xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 2.5x 7.1xmedian 0.9x 27.6xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 24.3xmedian 17.9x 27.0xmedian 11.9x —median 17.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.0xmedian 22.3x 24.1xmedian 14.4x —median 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 8.1xmedian 1.8x 7.5xmedian 2.4x 85.0xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 2.04median 1.73 1.86median 0.97 2.30median 1.73

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 monthsECLNSSCCDZI
Revenue $17.37B $202.32M $14.34M
Gross profit $7.63B $119.79M $4.25M
Operating income $2.90B $45.64M -$26.90M
Net income $2.10B $43.03M -$35.98M
Free cash flow $1.80B $59.23M –
R&D – $13.79M –
EPS (diluted) $7.38 $1.20 $-1,199.69
Cash & equivalents $722.30M $126.93M $5.32M
Total debt $13.19B – $278.50M
Shares (diluted) 282.10M 35.89M 34.19K
Enterprise value $77.70B $916.11M $343.32M

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
MetricECLNSSCCDZI
P/E 40.5x 33.2x -9.7x
P/FCF 47.0x 24.1x –
P/Operating cash flow 27.9x 23.4x –
P/S 4.9x 7.1x 27.6x
P/B 8.1x 7.5x 85.0x
P/Tangible book 15.8x 7.6x 85.0x
EV/EBITDA 24.3x 27.0x –
EV/EBIT 33.4x 28.3x -17.8x
EV/Revenue 5.6x 6.4x 33.3x
EV/FCF 54.0x 21.8x –
EV/Operating cash flow 32.0x 21.1x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.04 1.86 2.30

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLNSSCCDZI
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% 11.4% -4.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 6.0% 89.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.4% 18.6% -12.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.8% 17.8% 97.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.3% -1.3% -8.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% 14.6% -12.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.7% -0.9% -9.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.8% 16.6% -4.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.2% 0.8% -8.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% 17.8% -4.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.2% 14.2% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 35.3% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 15.6% 15.2% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 39.7% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLNSSCCDZI
Gross margin 43.9% 59.2% 29.6%
EBITDA margin 22.9% 23.6% –
Operating margin 16.7% 22.6% -187.6%
Pretax margin 15.0% 24.6% -250.5%
Net margin 12.0% 21.3% -286.1%
FCF margin 10.3% 29.3% –
Operating cash flow margin 17.4% 30.2% –
Return on equity 20.4% 23.3% -257.3%
Return on assets 6.9% 18.7% -26.1%
Return on invested capital 10.0% – –
Return on capital employed 12.0% 24.3% -21.0%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.9x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.4x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLNSSCCDZI
Debt / assets 42.4% – 64.5%
Debt / equity 1.3x – 18.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x – –
Debt / FCF 7.3x – –
Liabilities / assets 66.4% 20.0% 96.5%
Equity / assets 33.6% 80.0% 3.5%
Interest coverage 8.0x – -2.9x
Current ratio 1.1x 4.9x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.7x 4.1x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.1x 3.2x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 3.96 21.61 -6.11

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLNSSCCDZI
Dividend yield 1.0% 1.5% –
Net buyback yield 1.1% 0.0% –
Shareholder yield 2.1% 1.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) 39.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 45.6% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 12.7% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.7% – –

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.

ConsensusECLNSSCCDZI
Forward P/E 38.1xFY2026 24.8xFY2027 –
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 $1.61FY2027 $-0.54FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 +0.6%FY2027 –
EPS growth, the year after +23.2% +19.3% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.26BFY2026 $208.17MFY2027 $8.61MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +2.9%FY2027 -47.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +9.1% +109.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLNSSCCDZI
Held by institutions 80.0% 100.0% 46.7%
Institutions holding 1,712 260 117
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +4.2% +4.0%
Institutions buying 764 137 54
Institutions selling 679 89 39
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.54 1.38

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.

ECLNSSCCDZI
ECL 1.00 0.25 0.10
NSSC 0.25 1.00 0.10
CDZI 0.10 0.10 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL, NSSC and CDZI?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $84.73B, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) $1.40B, Cadiz (CDZI) $374.87M.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL, NSSC and CDZI?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 40.7x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 32.5x, Cadiz (CDZI) -9.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 38.1x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 24.8x). 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%, Cadiz (CDZI) -4.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) has the highest net margin (Ecolab (ECL) 12.0%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 21.3%, Cadiz (CDZI) -286.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +16.9%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) -8.6%, Cadiz (CDZI) -14.5%. Over five years, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +6.3%/yr, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +10.8%/yr, Cadiz (CDZI) -5.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Ecolab (ECL) 21.2%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 40.9%, Cadiz (CDZI) 66.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.