ESI vs KOP vs WFG Stock Comparison

Element Solutions, Koppers Holdings and West Fraser Timber Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ESI Element Solutions Inc
$35.02 -1.9% 1M +32.3% 1Y
Market cap
$8.68B
P/E
42.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
6 wins
KOP Koppers Holdings Inc.
$41.50 -10.3% 1M +41.1% 1Y
Market cap
$801.27M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.89B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Element Solutions leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Element Solutions 6, Koppers Holdings 2, West Fraser Timber 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionESIKOPWFGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.68B $801.27M $5.39B ESI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 42.4x -9.2x -3.9x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.4x 10.8x — KOP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +39.6% -5.0% -10.2% ESI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.9% -4.6% -26.2% ESI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.4% -2.7% — ESI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 23.6x -181.5x WFG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.3% +41.1% +4.9% KOP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.1%/yr +3.5%/yr -3.4%/yr ESI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.9% 35.6% 33.6% WFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 48/100 33/100 ESI

Percentile Scorecard

ESIKOPWFG

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

AxisESIKOPWFG
Valuation 39 #58 of 94 75 #24 of 94 45 #159 of 287
Growth 77 #22 of 91 27 #67 of 91 6 #251 of 266
Profitability 61 #34 of 86 42 #50 of 86 21 #187 of 236
Financial Health 48 #50 of 95 18 #78 of 95 –
Shareholder Returns 30 #49 of 70 80 #15 of 70 62 #78 of 203
Overall 51 48 33
  • ESI ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • KOP ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • WFG ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodESIKOPWFGSPY
1 month -1.9%-10.3%-2.7% -0.2%
3 months -4.1%-17.5%+3.4% +3.9%
6 months -9.7%+0.1%+9.0% +8.2%
Year to date +40.1%+53.2%+14.0% +12.9%
1 year +32.3%+41.1%+4.9% +12.3%
3 years +94.6%+14.0%+6.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year +24.9%+4.5%+2.0% +23.3%
5 years +54.3%+18.5%-15.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +9.1%+3.5%-3.4% +10.9%
10 years +365.1%+30.3%+103.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +16.6%+2.7%+7.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureESIKOPWFGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.9%35.6%33.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.4%36.2%32.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.180.950.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.691.150.14 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -40.3%-58.8%-43.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -28.7%-20.7%-9.1% -1.2%
52-week high $49.09$52.33$76.69 $779.14
52-week low $22.99$26.67$57.91 $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.

MultipleESIKOPWFG
P/E now vs peer median 41.6xmedian 22.0x -9.1xmedian 22.0x -4.0xmedian 18.1x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.4x 0.4xmedian 1.4x 1.1xmedian 1.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.9xmedian 12.4x 45.2xmedian 12.4x -2,933xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 46.5xmedian 15.1x 5.7xmedian 15.1x -12.7xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 1.6x 2.0xmedian 1.6x 1.0xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.75median 1.66 0.19median 1.66 0.61median 0.76

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 monthsESIKOPWFG
Revenue $3.49B $1.89B $5.24B
Gross profit $1.28B $423.40M $1.14B
Operating income $408.70M -$42.30M -$1.49B
Net income $205.20M -$86.90M -$1.20B
Free cash flow $182.90M $138.70M -$435.00M
R&D $80.00M – –
EPS (diluted) $0.84 $-4.54 $-17.33
Cash & equivalents $224.90M $40.70M $74.00M
Total debt $2.08B $897.60M $437.00M
Shares (diluted) 243.70M 19.13M 79.16M
Enterprise value $7.46B $641.87M $4.49B

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
MetricESIKOPWFG
P/E 41.6x -9.1x -4.0x
P/FCF 46.5x 5.7x -12.7x
P/Operating cash flow 30.0x 4.1x –
P/S 2.4x 0.4x 1.1x
P/B 2.9x 2.0x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 4.5x 2.7x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 17.9x 45.2x -2,933x
EV/EBIT 25.3x -38.8x -3.9x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 0.9x 1.1x
EV/FCF 56.6x 11.8x -13.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 36.5x 8.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.75 0.19 0.61

Growth

14 metrics
MetricESIKOPWFG
Revenue growth (1Y) 39.6% -5.0% -10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.4% -3.5% -13.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 21.5% -0.3% -29.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.7% 2.9% -27.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.6% -134.6% -867.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 31.9% -30.9% -52.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -14.4% -675.5% -1,620%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 56.0% -44.9% -188.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -15.0% -708.8% -331.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 55.8% -46.9% -6.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -16.0% 44.4% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.2% 34.2% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -32.2% 92.9% 17.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -12.3% 83.6% 1.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricESIKOPWFG
Gross margin 36.6% 22.4% 21.8%
EBITDA margin 16.6% 1.9% 0.0%
Operating margin 11.7% -2.2% -28.4%
Pretax margin 9.0% -5.2% -29.3%
Net margin 5.9% -4.6% -26.2%
FCF margin 5.2% 7.3% -8.3%
Operating cash flow margin 8.1% 10.1% –
Return on equity 7.2% -18.6% -24.5%
Return on assets 3.5% -4.8% –
Return on invested capital 5.4% -2.7% –
Return on capital employed 7.8% -2.8% –
Asset turnover 0.6x 1.1x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x -2.2x –
Stock comp / revenue 2.4% 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricESIKOPWFG
Debt / assets 35.5% 52.1% –
Debt / equity 0.7x 2.3x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 23.6x -181.5x
Debt / FCF 11.4x 6.5x -1.0x
Liabilities / assets 50.7% 77.5% –
Equity / assets 49.3% 22.5% –
Interest coverage – -0.7x –
Current ratio 2.8x 2.3x –
Quick ratio 1.7x 0.9x –
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 2.56 1.96 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricESIKOPWFG
Dividend yield 0.9% 0.8% 1.8%
Net buyback yield 0.5% 6.6% –
Shareholder yield 1.4% 7.4% 1.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusESIKOPWFG
Forward P/E 20.4xFY2026 10.8xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.72FY2026 $3.83FY2026 $-4.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.4%FY2026 -5.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +33.7% +23.5% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.86BFY2026 $1.85BFY2026 $5.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +51.4%FY2026 -1.6%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.3% +2.4% +9.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersESIKOPWFG
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 49.7%
Institutions holding 499 219 166
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% +1.7% +3.1%
Institutions buying 269 108 79
Institutions selling 176 66 55
Buyers to sellers 1.53 1.64 1.44

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.

ESIKOPWFG
ESI 1.00 0.29 0.23
KOP 0.29 1.00 0.24
WFG 0.23 0.24 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ESI, KOP and WFG?

Element Solutions (ESI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Element Solutions (ESI) $8.68B, Koppers Holdings (KOP) $801.27M, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.39B.

Which company is growing faster?

Element Solutions (ESI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Element Solutions (ESI) +39.6%, Koppers Holdings (KOP) -5.0%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Element Solutions (ESI) has the highest net margin (Element Solutions (ESI) 5.9%, Koppers Holdings (KOP) -4.6%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -26.2%). On return on invested capital, Element Solutions (ESI) leads (Element Solutions (ESI) 5.4%, Koppers Holdings (KOP) -2.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Koppers Holdings (KOP) returned the most: Element Solutions (ESI) +32.3%, Koppers Holdings (KOP) +41.1%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +4.9%. Over five years, Element Solutions (ESI) compounded fastest (Element Solutions (ESI) +9.1%/yr, Koppers Holdings (KOP) +3.5%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, West Fraser Timber (WFG) has been the steadiest (Element Solutions (ESI) 46.9%, Koppers Holdings (KOP) 35.6%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ESI, KOP and WFG?

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