ERII vs XYL vs ECL Stock Comparison

Energy Recovery, Xylem and Ecolab Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ERII Energy Recovery, Inc.
$6.86 +0.7% 1M -61.0% 1Y
Market cap
$354.58M
P/E
23.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$120.57M
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
2 wins
XYL Xylem Inc.
$92.78 -9.5% 1M -37.9% 1Y
Market cap
$20.52B
P/E
19.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.06B
Div. yield
0.02%
Water Treatment Industrials
2 wins
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$291.28 +4.1% 1M +4.1% 1Y
Market cap
$82.08B
P/E
39.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Ecolab leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Ecolab 5, Xylem 2, Energy Recovery 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionERIIXYLECLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $354.58M $20.52B $82.08B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.1x 19.0x 39.4x XYL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 17.6x 36.9x XYL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -15.0% +1.9% +9.3% ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.7% 11.9% — ERII
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 8.3% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.1x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -61.0% -37.9% +4.1% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -19.4%/yr -6.7%/yr +5.7%/yr ECL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 63.7% 30.0% 21.9% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 90/100 79/100 55/100 ERII

Percentile Scorecard

ERIIXYLECL

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

AxisERIIXYLECL
Valuation 95 #2 of 21 90 #3 of 21 35 #14 of 21
Growth 67 #7 of 19 89 #3 of 19 83 #4 of 19
Profitability 88 #3 of 17 69 #6 of 17 81 #4 of 17
Financial Health 100 #1 of 22 57 #10 of 22 19 #18 of 22
Shareholder Returns 100 #1 of 10 89 #2 of 10 –
Overall 90 79 55
  • ERII ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • XYL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • 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

PeriodERIIXYLECLSPY
1 month +0.7%-9.5%+4.1% -0.2%
3 months -18.3%-25.8%+2.8% +3.9%
6 months -38.1%-21.3%+9.1% +8.2%
Year to date -49.1%-31.9%+11.0% +12.9%
1 year -61.0%-37.9%+4.1% +12.3%
3 years -53.8%+5.2%+85.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year -22.7%+1.7%+22.8% +23.3%
5 years -66.0%-29.3%+31.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year -19.4%-6.7%+5.7% +10.9%
10 years -45.7%+93.2%+153.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year -5.9%+6.8%+9.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureERIIXYLECLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 63.7%30.0%21.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.0%35.7%22.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.710.680.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.96-1.260.19 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -78.3%-45.4%-44.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -61.0%-39.3%-5.5% -1.2%
52-week high $17.59$152.95$308.35 $779.14
52-week low $6.64$92.78$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.

MultipleERIIXYLECL
P/E now vs peer median 23.0xmedian 25.6x 20.0xmedian 25.6x 39.3xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 2.4x 2.3xmedian 2.4x 4.7xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.3xmedian 16.7x 12.1xmedian 16.7x —median 16.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.1xmedian 23.6x 23.1xmedian 23.6x 41.5xmedian 23.6x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 2.0x 2.1xmedian 2.0x 7.8xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.37median 1.68 0.63median 1.68 1.98median 1.68

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 monthsERIIXYLECL
Revenue $120.57M $9.06B $17.37B
Gross profit $77.18M $3.61B –
Operating income $14.23M $1.37B $2.90B
Net income $15.34M $1.08B –
Free cash flow $38.60M $921.00M –
R&D $12.22M $231.00M –
EPS (diluted) $0.30 $4.64 $7.38
Cash & equivalents $61.44M $708.00M $722.30M
Total debt – $2.90B –
Shares (diluted) 51.46M 233.04M 282.20M
Enterprise value $29.74M $16.25B $82.08B

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
MetricERIIXYLECL
P/E 23.0x 20.0x 39.3x
P/FCF 9.1x 23.1x 41.5x
P/Operating cash flow 8.5x 16.7x –
P/S 2.9x 2.3x 4.7x
P/B 2.0x 2.1x 7.8x
P/Tangible book 2.0x 2.6x 15.2x
EV/EBITDA 14.3x 12.1x –
EV/EBIT 18.1x 17.1x –
EV/Revenue 2.1x 2.6x 4.7x
EV/FCF 6.7x 25.5x –
EV/Operating cash flow 6.2x 18.4x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.37 0.63 1.98

Growth

14 metrics
MetricERIIXYLECL
Revenue growth (1Y) -15.0% 1.9% 9.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 10.3% 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -18.5% 6.0% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.0% 12.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -34.1% 20.7% 11.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.3% 29.1% 17.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -36.4% 14.1% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 30.0% –
EPS growth (1Y) -32.7% 19.6% 6.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 16.8% 31.7% 19.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 98.7% -0.1% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 62.2% 19.6% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 91.3% -0.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 76.4% 21.9% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricERIIXYLECL
Gross margin 64.0% 39.8% –
EBITDA margin 15.0% 21.3% –
Operating margin 11.8% 15.1% –
Pretax margin 14.6% 14.8% –
Net margin 12.7% 11.9% –
FCF margin 32.0% 10.2% –
Operating cash flow margin 34.2% 14.0% –
Return on equity 8.6% 10.3% 20.4%
Return on assets 7.5% 6.2% 6.9%
Return on invested capital – 8.3% –
Return on capital employed 7.7% 9.5% –
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.7x 1.2x –
Stock comp / revenue 5.9% 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricERIIXYLECL
Debt / assets – 16.7% –
Debt / equity – 0.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.1x –
Debt / FCF – 3.1x –
Liabilities / assets 12.8% 40.7% 66.4%
Equity / assets 87.2% 59.3% 33.6%
Interest coverage – 36.1x –
Current ratio 8.1x 1.4x 1.1x
Quick ratio 5.8x 0.9x –
Cash ratio 5.0x 0.2x –
Altman Z-score 10.78 3.01 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricERIIXYLECL
Dividend yield – 1.8% 1.0%
Net buyback yield 9.8% 7.4% –
Shareholder yield 9.8% 9.2% 1.0%
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.

ConsensusERIIXYLECL
Forward P/E – 17.6xFY2026 36.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.20FY2026 $5.26FY2026 $7.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -147.6%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +13.7% +23.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $69.90MFY2026 $9.81BFY2026 $17.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -48.2%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +45.2% +0.4% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersERIIXYLECL
Held by institutions 85.0% 92.0% 80.0%
Institutions holding 197 1,092 1,710
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +0.2% +1.4%
Institutions buying 120 488 762
Institutions selling 45 447 679
Buyers to sellers 2.67 1.09 1.12

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.

ERIIXYLECL
ERII 1.00 0.10 0.23
XYL 0.10 1.00 0.34
ECL 0.23 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ERII, XYL and ECL?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Energy Recovery (ERII) $354.58M, Xylem (XYL) $20.52B, Ecolab (ECL) $82.08B.

Which stock is cheaper, ERII, XYL and ECL?

Xylem (XYL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Energy Recovery (ERII) 23.1x, Xylem (XYL) 19.0x, Ecolab (ECL) 39.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Xylem (XYL) is cheapest (Xylem (XYL) 17.6x, Ecolab (ECL) 36.9x). 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%, Xylem (XYL) +1.9%, Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Energy Recovery (ERII) has the highest net margin (Energy Recovery (ERII) 12.7%, Xylem (XYL) 11.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Energy Recovery (ERII) -61.0%, Xylem (XYL) -37.9%, Ecolab (ECL) +4.1%. Over five years, Ecolab (ECL) compounded fastest (Energy Recovery (ERII) -19.4%/yr, Xylem (XYL) -6.7%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +5.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Energy Recovery (ERII) 0.00%, Xylem (XYL) 0.02%, Ecolab (ECL) 0.00%. Energy Recovery (ERII) and Ecolab (ECL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Energy Recovery (ERII) 63.7%, Xylem (XYL) 30.0%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ERII, XYL 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, Ecolab (ECL) 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.