ECL vs NSSC vs XYL Stock Comparison

Ecolab, Napco Security Technologies and Xylem Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$292.52 +4.3% 1M +9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$84.78B
P/E
40.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins
XYL Xylem Inc.
$88.24 -12.6% 1M -41.4% 1Y
Market cap
$21.05B
P/E
19.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.06B
Div. yield
0.02%
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

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

QuestionECLNSSCXYLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $84.78B $1.43B $21.05B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 40.7x 33.3x 19.5x XYL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 37.0x 24.6x 16.8x XYL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% +11.4% +1.9% NSSC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 21.3% 11.9% NSSC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 8.3% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 1.1x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.0% -9.9% -41.4% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.7%/yr +10.6%/yr -7.5%/yr NSSC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.5% 40.9% 30.4% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 65/100 79/100 XYL

Percentile Scorecard

ECLNSSCXYL

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

AxisECLNSSCXYL
Valuation 30 #15 of 21 32 #77 of 113 95 #2 of 21
Growth 83 #4 of 19 79 #21 of 96 89 #3 of 19
Profitability 75 #5 of 17 100 #1 of 92 69 #6 of 17
Financial Health 19 #18 of 22 96 #6 of 125 52 #11 of 22
Shareholder Returns – 17 #56 of 67 88 #2 of 9
Overall 52 65 79
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • NSSC ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • XYL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodECLNSSCXYLSPY
1 month +4.3%+13.1%-12.6% +0.9%
3 months +3.0%+9.0%-27.8% +5.9%
6 months +14.0%-12.2%-23.5% +8.5%
Year to date +11.4%-4.9%-35.2% +13.3%
1 year +9.0%-9.9%-41.4% +12.4%
3 years +85.8%+106.9%+0.1% +88.1%
3 years, per year +23.0%+27.4%+0.0% +23.5%
5 years +31.6%+65.4%-32.4% +68.2%
5 years, per year +5.7%+10.6%-7.5% +11.0%
10 years +154.1%+1,033.1%+81.5% +263.4%
10 years, per year +9.8%+27.5%+6.1% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureECLNSSCXYLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.5%40.9%30.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.2%43.4%36.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.481.220.67 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.42-0.24-1.36 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-65.8%-45.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.1%-16.0%-42.3% -0.9%
52-week high $308.35$47.23$152.95 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$34.96$88.24 $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.

MultipleECLNSSCXYL
P/E now vs peer median 39.4xmedian 25.5x 32.9xmedian 21.5x 19.0xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.4x 7.0xmedian 0.9x 2.2xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 19.0x 26.8xmedian 11.9x 11.6xmedian 19.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 41.5xmedian 23.0x 24.0xmedian 13.9x 22.0xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 2.0x 7.4xmedian 2.3x 2.0xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.99median 1.69 1.85median 0.92 0.60median 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 monthsECLNSSCXYL
Revenue $17.37B $202.32M $9.06B
Gross profit – $119.79M $3.61B
Operating income $2.90B $45.64M $1.37B
Net income – $43.03M $1.08B
Free cash flow – $59.23M $921.00M
R&D – $13.79M $231.00M
EPS (diluted) $7.38 $1.20 $4.64
Cash & equivalents $722.30M $126.93M $708.00M
Total debt – – $2.90B
Shares (diluted) 282.20M 35.89M 233.04M
Enterprise value $84.78B $947.87M $16.78B

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
MetricECLNSSCXYL
P/E 39.4x 32.9x 19.0x
P/FCF 41.5x 24.0x 22.0x
P/Operating cash flow – 23.2x 15.9x
P/S 4.7x 7.0x 2.2x
P/B 7.8x 7.4x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 15.3x 7.5x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA – 26.8x 11.6x
EV/EBIT – 28.1x 16.3x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 6.3x 2.5x
EV/FCF – 21.6x 24.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 21.0x 17.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.99 1.85 0.60

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLNSSCXYL
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% 11.4% 1.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 6.0% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 18.6% 6.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 17.8% 12.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.3% -1.3% 20.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% 14.6% 29.1%
Net income growth (1Y) – -0.9% 14.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 16.6% 30.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.1% 0.8% 19.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% 17.8% 31.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 14.2% -0.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 35.3% 19.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 15.2% -0.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 39.7% 21.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLNSSCXYL
Gross margin – 59.2% 39.8%
EBITDA margin – 23.6% 21.3%
Operating margin – 22.6% 15.1%
Pretax margin – 24.6% 14.8%
Net margin – 21.3% 11.9%
FCF margin – 29.3% 10.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 30.2% 14.0%
Return on equity 20.4% 23.3% 10.3%
Return on assets 6.9% 18.7% 6.2%
Return on invested capital – – 8.3%
Return on capital employed – 24.3% 9.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.4x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLNSSCXYL
Debt / assets – – 16.7%
Debt / equity – – 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 1.1x
Debt / FCF – – 3.1x
Liabilities / assets 66.4% 20.0% 40.7%
Equity / assets 33.6% 80.0% 59.3%
Interest coverage – – 36.1x
Current ratio 1.1x 4.9x 1.4x
Quick ratio – 4.1x 0.9x
Cash ratio – 3.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 21.47 2.92

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLNSSCXYL
Dividend yield 1.0% 1.5% 1.9%
Net buyback yield – 0.0% 7.8%
Shareholder yield 1.0% 1.5% 9.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 37.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 44.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 6.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 14.1%

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.

ConsensusECLNSSCXYL
Forward P/E 37.0xFY2026 24.6xFY2027 16.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 $1.61FY2027 $5.26FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 +0.6%FY2027 +3.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.2% +19.3% +13.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.26BFY2026 $208.17MFY2027 $9.81BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +2.9%FY2027 +8.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +9.1% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLNSSCXYL
Held by institutions 80.0% 100.0% 92.0%
Institutions holding 1,711 259 1,092
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +4.2% +0.2%
Institutions buying 763 136 488
Institutions selling 679 89 447
Buyers to sellers 1.12 1.53 1.09

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.

ECLNSSCXYL
ECL 1.00 0.25 0.33
NSSC 0.25 1.00 0.25
XYL 0.33 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL, NSSC and XYL?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $84.78B, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) $1.43B, Xylem (XYL) $21.05B.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL, NSSC and XYL?

Xylem (XYL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 40.7x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 33.3x, Xylem (XYL) 19.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Xylem (XYL) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 37.0x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 24.6x, Xylem (XYL) 16.8x). 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%, Xylem (XYL) +1.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) has the highest net margin (Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 21.3%, Xylem (XYL) 11.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +9.0%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) -9.9%, Xylem (XYL) -41.4%. Over five years, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +5.7%/yr, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +10.6%/yr, Xylem (XYL) -7.5%/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%, Xylem (XYL) 0.02%. 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%, Xylem (XYL) 30.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ecolab (ECL) leads on 3. 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.