ECL vs SNTL vs XYL Stock Comparison

Ecolab, Sentinel Holdings and Xylem 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
4 wins
SNTL Sentinel Holdings Ltd.
$1.66 -4.0% 1M -69.5% 1Y
Market cap
$16.09M
P/E
1.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.58M
Div. yield
–
Security Services Industrials
4 wins
XYL Xylem Inc.
$88.24 -12.6% 1M -41.4% 1Y
Market cap
$20.24B
P/E
19.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.06B
Div. yield
1.92%
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionECLSNTLXYLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $81.99B $16.09M $20.24B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 39.4x 1.1x 19.0x SNTL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 37.0x — 16.8x XYL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% +250.7% +1.9% SNTL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 311.9% 11.9% SNTL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 8.3% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.1x 1.1x SNTL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.00% — 1.92% XYL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.0% -69.5% -41.4% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.7%/yr -3.7%/yr -7.5%/yr ECL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.5% 138.1% 30.4% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 46/100 79/100 XYL

Percentile Scorecard

ECLSNTLXYL

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

AxisECLSNTLXYL
Valuation 30 #15 of 21 75 #29 of 113 95 #2 of 21
Growth 83 #4 of 19 97 #4 of 96 89 #3 of 19
Profitability 75 #5 of 17 45 #51 of 92 69 #6 of 17
Financial Health 19 #18 of 22 11 #112 of 125 52 #11 of 22
Shareholder Returns – 2 #66 of 67 88 #2 of 9
Overall 52 46 79
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • SNTL 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

PeriodECLSNTLXYLSPY
1 month +4.3%-4.0%-12.6% +0.9%
3 months +3.0%-58.7%-27.8% +5.9%
6 months +14.0%-69.5%-23.5% +8.5%
Year to date +11.4%-73.1%-35.2% +13.3%
1 year +9.0%-69.5%-41.4% +12.4%
3 years +85.8%-72.3%+0.1% +88.1%
3 years, per year +23.0%-34.9%+0.0% +23.5%
5 years +31.6%-17.0%-32.4% +68.2%
5 years, per year +5.7%-3.7%-7.5% +11.0%
10 years +154.1%+1,283.3%+81.5% +263.4%
10 years, per year +9.8%+30.0%+6.1% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureECLSNTLXYLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.5%138.1%30.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.2%166.0%36.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.48-0.530.67 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.42-0.50-1.36 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-80.5%-45.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.1%-73.9%-42.3% -0.9%
52-week high $308.35$6.35$152.95 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$1.27$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.

MultipleECLSNTLXYL
P/E now vs peer median 39.4xmedian 25.5x 1.1xmedian 21.5x 19.0xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.4x 3.5xmedian 0.9x 2.2xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 19.0x -3.9xmedian 11.9x 11.6xmedian 19.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 41.5xmedian 23.0x 7.4xmedian 13.9x 22.0xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 2.0x -4.5xmedian 2.3x 2.0xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.99median 1.69 0.01median 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 monthsECLSNTLXYL
Revenue $17.37B $4.58M $9.06B
Gross profit – $340.92K $3.61B
Operating income $2.90B -$4.61M $1.37B
Net income – -$881.22K $1.08B
Free cash flow – $2.17M $921.00M
R&D – – $231.00M
EPS (diluted) $7.38 $1.47 $4.64
Cash & equivalents $722.30M $146.09K $708.00M
Total debt – $3.26M $2.90B
Shares (diluted) 282.20M 9.69M 233.04M
Enterprise value $82.02B $14.75M $16.20B

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
MetricECLSNTLXYL
P/E 39.4x 1.1x 19.0x
P/FCF 41.5x 7.4x 22.0x
P/Operating cash flow – 6.9x 15.9x
P/S 4.7x 3.5x 2.2x
P/B 7.8x -4.5x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 15.3x -3.6x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA – -3.9x 11.6x
EV/EBIT – -3.6x 16.3x
EV/Revenue 4.7x 3.6x 2.5x
EV/FCF – 7.6x 24.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 7.1x 17.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.99 0.01 0.60

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLSNTLXYL
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% 250.7% 1.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% -19.0% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 156.9% 6.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -38.0% 12.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.3% 43.4% 20.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% 2.3% 29.1%
Net income growth (1Y) – 90.2% 14.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 22.2% 30.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.1% 322.4% 19.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% 104.3% 31.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 328.9% -0.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 245.0% 19.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 312.6% -0.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 237.5% 21.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLSNTLXYL
Gross margin – 7.4% 39.8%
EBITDA margin – -91.9% 21.3%
Operating margin – -100.8% 15.1%
Pretax margin – -18.1% 14.8%
Net margin – 311.9% 11.9%
FCF margin – 47.4% 10.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 50.6% 14.0%
Return on equity 20.4% – 10.3%
Return on assets 6.9% -40.8% 6.2%
Return on invested capital – – 8.3%
Return on capital employed – – 9.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x 2.1x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – -2.6x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLSNTLXYL
Debt / assets – 27.8% 16.7%
Debt / equity – -0.2x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.1x 1.1x
Debt / FCF – 0.3x 3.1x
Liabilities / assets 66.4% 279.9% 40.7%
Equity / assets 33.6% -179.9% 59.3%
Interest coverage – -9.2x 36.1x
Current ratio 1.1x 0.2x 1.4x
Quick ratio – 0.2x 0.9x
Cash ratio – 0.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – -23.73 2.92

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLSNTLXYL
Dividend yield 1.0% – 1.9%
Net buyback yield – -12.7% 7.8%
Shareholder yield 1.0% -12.7% 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.

ConsensusECLSNTLXYL
Forward P/E 37.0xFY2026 – 16.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 – $5.26FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 – +3.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.2% – +13.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.26BFY2026 – $9.81BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 – +8.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% – +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLSNTLXYL
Held by institutions 80.0% – 92.0%
Institutions holding 1,711 – 1,092
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% – +0.2%
Institutions buying 763 – 488
Institutions selling 679 – 447
Buyers to sellers 1.12 – 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.

ECLSNTLXYL
ECL 1.00 0.00 0.33
SNTL 0.00 1.00 -0.06
XYL 0.33 -0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL, SNTL and XYL?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $81.99B, Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) $16.09M, Xylem (XYL) $20.24B.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL, SNTL and XYL?

Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 39.4x, Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) 1.1x, Xylem (XYL) 19.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Xylem (XYL) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 37.0x, 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?

Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%, Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) +250.7%, Xylem (XYL) +1.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) has the highest net margin (Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) 311.9%, Xylem (XYL) 11.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +9.0%, Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) -69.5%, Xylem (XYL) -41.4%. Over five years, Ecolab (ECL) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +5.7%/yr, Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) -3.7%/yr, Xylem (XYL) -7.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Xylem (XYL) has the highest dividend yield: Ecolab (ECL) 1.00%, Xylem (XYL) 1.92%. Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Ecolab (ECL) 21.5%, Sentinel Holdings (SNTL) 138.1%, Xylem (XYL) 30.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ECL, SNTL 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 4. 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.