ESAB vs IEX vs SWK Stock Comparison

Esab, Idex and Stanley Black & Decker Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ESAB ESAB Corp
$74.13 +9.7% 1M -35.2% 1Y
Market cap
$4.26B
P/E
24.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.00B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
3 wins
IEX Idex Corp /De/
$239.46 +3.9% 1M +38.1% 1Y
Market cap
$17.26B
P/E
32.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.66B
Div. yield
0.01%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Idex leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Idex 6, Esab 3, Stanley Black & Decker 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionESABIEXSWKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.26B $17.26B $15.52B IEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.9x 32.2x 25.0x ESAB
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.5x 26.2x 17.8x ESAB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +6.9% +0.6% ESAB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.7% 14.6% 4.1% IEX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.2% 10.0% 6.6% IEX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.7x 1.2x 2.3x IEX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.03% SWK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -35.2% +38.1% +48.1% SWK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +1.5%/yr -10.4%/yr IEX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.1% 22.0% 36.5% IEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 58/100 59/100 SWK

Percentile Scorecard

ESABIEXSWK

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

AxisESABIEXSWK
Valuation 60 #82 of 203 37 #128 of 203 88 #25 of 203
Growth 25 #141 of 188 43 #107 of 188 81 #37 of 188
Profitability 48 #95 of 183 90 #19 of 183 52 #89 of 183
Financial Health 21 #170 of 216 72 #62 of 216 28 #156 of 216
Shareholder Returns 23 #117 of 152 47 #81 of 152 48 #80 of 152
Overall 36 58 59
  • ESAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • IEX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • SWK ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodESABIEXSWKSPY
1 month +9.7%+3.9%+16.7% +0.7%
3 months -13.4%+2.4%+8.4% +3.7%
6 months -24.6%+9.9%+32.5% +7.1%
Year to date -33.6%+34.6%+39.5% +12.8%
1 year -35.2%+38.1%+48.1% +11.9%
3 years +17.0%+25.7%+23.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +5.4%+7.9%+7.1% +22.8%
5 years —+7.6%-42.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year —+1.5%-10.4% +10.9%
10 years —+177.8%-9.4% +262.0%
10 years, per year —+10.8%-1.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureESABIEXSWKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.1%22.0%36.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.7%19.9%32.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.810.691.40 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.761.731.32 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -52.3%-35.9%-71.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -45.0%-0.4%-0.4% -1.2%
52-week high $134.82$240.52$104.00 $779.14
52-week low $64.45$161.68$62.12 $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.

MultipleESABIEXSWK
P/E now vs peer median 26.6xmedian 25.8x 32.9xmedian 25.8x 25.1xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.9x 4.8xmedian 1.9x 1.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.7xmedian 14.6x 19.2xmedian 14.6x 10.9xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.4xmedian 22.2x 26.4xmedian 22.2x 12.1xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 2.2x 4.4xmedian 2.2x 1.7xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -3.68median 1.45 -8.64median 1.45 -4.76median 1.45

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 monthsESABIEXSWK
Revenue $3.00B $3.66B $15.25B
Gross profit $1.11B $1.64B $4.86B
Operating income $362.44M $763.90M $1.32B
Net income $178.52M $535.80M $620.50M
Free cash flow $196.61M $667.10M $1.29B
EPS (diluted) $2.78 $7.24 $4.12
Cash & equivalents $217.49M $602.10M $592.40M
Total debt $2.40B $1.75B $4.76B
Shares (diluted) 61.63M 74.00M 150.65M
Enterprise value $2.64B $14.87B $14.05B

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
MetricESABIEXSWK
P/E 26.6x 32.9x 25.1x
P/FCF 23.4x 26.4x 12.1x
P/Operating cash flow 17.8x 23.4x 10.1x
P/S 1.5x 4.8x 1.0x
P/B 1.8x 4.4x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 3.8x 6.1x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 14.7x 19.2x 10.9x
EV/EBIT 18.7x 24.5x 15.0x
EV/Revenue 2.3x 5.1x 1.3x
EV/FCF 34.5x 28.1x 15.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.2x 24.9x 12.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.68 -8.64 -4.76

Growth

14 metrics
MetricESABIEXSWK
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 6.9% 0.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.7% 3.5% -2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.4% 8.1% 9.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 4.1% 11.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -16.9% 12.2% 51.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.3% 0.7% 149.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -32.0% 12.1% 29.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -6.2% -4.6% -7.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -33.6% 13.9% 30.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -7.2% -3.8% -5.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -16.5% 17.0% 104.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.6% 3.3% 96.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -23.8% 14.2% 211.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.8% 3.9% 110.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricESABIEXSWK
Gross margin 37.0% 44.9% 31.9%
EBITDA margin 15.4% 26.7% 11.9%
Operating margin 12.1% 20.9% 8.6%
Pretax margin 8.7% 19.2% 5.6%
Net margin 5.7% 14.6% 4.1%
FCF margin 6.5% 18.2% 8.5%
Operating cash flow margin 8.6% 20.6% 10.2%
Return on equity 7.4% 13.4% 6.9%
Return on assets 2.9% 7.8% 3.0%
Return on invested capital 6.2% 10.0% 6.6%
Return on capital employed 6.8% 12.2% 8.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.4x 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.9% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricESABIEXSWK
Debt / assets 36.5% 25.5% 23.7%
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.4x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.7x 1.2x 2.3x
Debt / FCF 12.2x 2.6x 3.7x
Liabilities / assets 60.6% 41.6% 55.4%
Equity / assets 39.4% 58.4% 44.6%
Interest coverage 3.5x – 2.8x
Current ratio 2.0x 2.8x 1.4x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.8x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.9x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.66 5.75 2.52

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricESABIEXSWK
Dividend yield 0.6% 1.2% 3.2%
Net buyback yield – 1.7% 1.7%
Shareholder yield 0.6% 2.9% 4.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 39.9% 81.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 32.1% 39.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.0% 1.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 4.5% 1.9%

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.

ConsensusESABIEXSWK
Forward P/E 14.5xFY2026 26.2xFY2026 17.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.13FY2026 $9.14FY2026 $5.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -2.8%FY2026 +15.0%FY2026 +24.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.7% +12.0% +5.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.86BFY2026 $3.93BFY2026 $16.13BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.9%FY2026 +13.7%FY2026 +6.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.3% +3.0% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersESABIEXSWK
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 95.7%
Institutions holding 348 687 772
Change in shares held, QoQ +11.0% +0.1% +5.3%
Institutions buying 187 351 417
Institutions selling 111 202 244
Buyers to sellers 1.68 1.74 1.71

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.

ESABIEXSWK
ESAB 1.00 0.52 0.64
IEX 0.52 1.00 0.57
SWK 0.64 0.57 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ESAB, IEX and SWK?

Idex (IEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Esab (ESAB) $4.26B, Idex (IEX) $17.26B, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) $15.52B.

Which stock is cheaper, ESAB, IEX and SWK?

Esab (ESAB) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Esab (ESAB) 24.9x, Idex (IEX) 32.2x, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 25.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Esab (ESAB) is cheapest (Esab (ESAB) 14.5x, Idex (IEX) 26.2x, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 17.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Esab (ESAB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Esab (ESAB) +9.7%, Idex (IEX) +6.9%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) +0.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idex (IEX) has the highest net margin (Esab (ESAB) 5.7%, Idex (IEX) 14.6%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 4.1%). On return on invested capital, Idex (IEX) leads (Esab (ESAB) 6.2%, Idex (IEX) 10.0%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 6.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) returned the most: Esab (ESAB) -35.2%, Idex (IEX) +38.1%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) +48.1%. Over five years, Idex (IEX) compounded fastest (Idex (IEX) +1.5%/yr, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) -10.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) has the highest dividend yield: Esab (ESAB) 0.00%, Idex (IEX) 0.01%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 0.03%. Esab (ESAB) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Idex (IEX) has been the steadiest (Esab (ESAB) 46.1%, Idex (IEX) 22.0%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 36.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ESAB, IEX and SWK?

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