ERII vs FERG vs ECL Stock Comparison

Energy Recovery, Ferguson Enterprises and Ecolab Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ERII Energy Recovery, Inc.
$7.12 +5.5% 1M -58.5% 1Y
Market cap
$364.36M
P/E
23.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$120.57M
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
2 wins
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$300.86 +8.3% 1M +16.9% 1Y
Market cap
$84.39B
P/E
40.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
0.97%
Water Treatment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Ferguson Enterprises leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ferguson Enterprises 6, Ecolab 4, Energy Recovery 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionERIIFERGECLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $364.36M $46.68B $84.39B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.9x 23.1x 40.5x FERG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 22.5x 38.1x FERG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -15.0% +5.2% +9.3% ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.7% 6.5% 12.0% ERII
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 21.7% 10.0% FERG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.0x 3.1x FERG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.48% 0.97% FERG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -58.5% -3.5% +16.9% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -18.9%/yr +9.7%/yr +6.3%/yr FERG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 63.8% 30.1% 21.2% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 91/100 66/100 64/100 ERII

Percentile Scorecard

ERIIFERGECL

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

AxisERIIFERGECL
Valuation 95 #2 of 21 44 #26 of 46 50 #11 of 21
Growth 72 #6 of 19 79 #9 of 39 83 #4 of 19
Profitability 87 #3 of 16 87 #6 of 39 93 #2 of 16
Financial Health 100 #1 of 21 50 #24 of 47 25 #16 of 21
Shareholder Returns 100 #1 of 10 70 #10 of 31 67 #4 of 10
Overall 91 66 64
  • ERII ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodERIIFERGECLSPY
1 month +5.5%+7.4%+8.3% +0.7%
3 months -15.5%+6.2%+7.7% +3.7%
6 months -35.7%-10.2%+15.4% +7.1%
Year to date -47.2%+8.0%+14.6% +12.8%
1 year -58.5%-3.5%+16.9% +11.9%
3 years -49.7%+56.4%+89.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year -20.5%+16.1%+23.7% +22.8%
5 years -65.0%+59.0%+35.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year -18.9%+9.7%+6.3% +10.9%
10 years -43.1%+353.7%+161.4% +262.0%
10 years, per year -5.5%+16.3%+10.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureERIIFERGECLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 63.8%30.1%21.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.6%30.9%20.4% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.701.120.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.92-0.110.79 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -78.3%-43.6%-44.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -58.7%-10.2%-2.4% -1.2%
52-week high $17.26$267.71$308.35 $779.14
52-week low $6.64$214.24$245.73 $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.

MultipleERIIFERGECL
P/E now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 25.4x 23.1xmedian 26.2x 40.5xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 2.5x 1.5xmedian 1.1x 4.9xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 17.9x 15.6xmedian 13.5x 24.3xmedian 17.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.4xmedian 22.3x 20.6xmedian 23.0x 47.0xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 1.8x 7.9xmedian 2.6x 8.1xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 1.43median 1.73 —median 2.55 2.04median 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 monthsERIIFERGECL
Revenue $120.57M $31.35B $17.37B
Gross profit $77.18M $9.73B $7.63B
Operating income $14.23M $2.82B $2.90B
Net income $15.34M $2.03B $2.10B
Free cash flow $38.60M $2.26B $1.80B
R&D $12.22M – –
EPS (diluted) $0.30 $10.42 $7.38
Cash & equivalents $61.44M $820.00M $722.30M
Total debt – $4.13B $13.19B
Shares (diluted) 51.46M 194.80M 282.10M
Enterprise value $39.53M $43.90B $77.40B

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
MetricERIIFERGECL
P/E 23.9x 23.1x 40.5x
P/FCF 9.4x 20.6x 47.0x
P/Operating cash flow 8.8x 17.8x 27.9x
P/S 3.0x 1.5x 4.9x
P/B 2.1x 7.9x 8.1x
P/Tangible book 2.1x 8.9x 15.8x
EV/EBITDA 15.0x 15.6x 24.3x
EV/EBIT 19.1x 17.8x 33.4x
EV/Revenue 2.3x 1.6x 5.6x
EV/FCF 7.0x 22.1x 54.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.6x 19.1x 32.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.43 – 2.04

Growth

14 metrics
MetricERIIFERGECL
Revenue growth (1Y) -15.0% 5.2% 9.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.1% – 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -18.5% 7.5% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.0% – 8.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -34.1% 17.6% 11.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.3% – 17.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -36.4% 31.6% 4.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.3% – 18.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -32.7% 34.4% 6.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 16.8% – 19.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 98.7% 35.9% 15.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 62.2% – 7.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 91.3% 42.8% 15.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 76.4% – 1.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricERIIFERGECL
Gross margin 64.0% 31.0% 43.9%
EBITDA margin 15.0% 10.2% 22.9%
Operating margin 11.8% 9.0% 16.7%
Pretax margin 14.6% 8.3% 15.0%
Net margin 12.7% 6.5% 12.0%
FCF margin 32.0% 7.2% 10.3%
Operating cash flow margin 34.2% 8.3% 17.4%
Return on equity 8.6% 34.0% 20.4%
Return on assets 7.5% 11.4% 6.9%
Return on invested capital – 21.7% 10.0%
Return on capital employed 7.7% 23.4% 12.0%
Asset turnover 0.6x 1.8x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.7x 1.3x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 5.9% 0.3% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricERIIFERGECL
Debt / assets – 23.2% 42.4%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.0x 3.1x
Debt / FCF – 1.8x 7.3x
Liabilities / assets 12.8% 67.0% 66.4%
Equity / assets 87.2% 33.0% 33.6%
Interest coverage – – 8.0x
Current ratio 8.1x 1.8x 1.1x
Quick ratio 5.8x 0.8x 0.7x
Cash ratio 5.0x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 11.10 5.52 3.96

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricERIIFERGECL
Dividend yield – 1.5% 1.0%
Net buyback yield 9.4% 1.8% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 9.4% 3.3% 2.1%
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.

ConsensusERIIFERGECL
Forward P/E – 22.5xFY2026 38.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.20FY2026 $10.68FY2026 $7.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -147.6%FY2026 +7.4%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +20.5% +23.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $69.90MFY2026 $34.30BFY2026 $17.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -48.2%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +45.2% -0.7% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersERIIFERGECL
Held by institutions 85.0% 96.3% 80.0%
Institutions holding 197 938 1,712
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +2.1% +1.4%
Institutions buying 120 477 764
Institutions selling 45 344 679
Buyers to sellers 2.67 1.39 1.13

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.

ERIIFERGECL
ERII 1.00 0.19 0.23
FERG 0.19 1.00 0.47
ECL 0.23 0.47 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ERII, FERG and ECL?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Energy Recovery (ERII) $364.36M, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $46.68B, Ecolab (ECL) $84.39B.

Which stock is cheaper, ERII, FERG and ECL?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Energy Recovery (ERII) 23.9x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 23.1x, Ecolab (ECL) 40.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is cheapest (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.5x, Ecolab (ECL) 38.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ecolab (ECL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Energy Recovery (ERII) -15.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Energy Recovery (ERII) has the highest net margin (Energy Recovery (ERII) 12.7%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%, Ecolab (ECL) 12.0%). On return on invested capital, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%, Ecolab (ECL) 10.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Energy Recovery (ERII) -58.5%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -3.5%, Ecolab (ECL) +16.9%. Over five years, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) compounded fastest (Energy Recovery (ERII) -18.9%/yr, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +9.7%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +6.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has the highest dividend yield: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 1.48%, Ecolab (ECL) 0.97%. Energy Recovery (ERII) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Energy Recovery (ERII) 63.8%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 30.1%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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