FERG vs NWPX vs XYL Stock Comparison

Ferguson Enterprises, NWPX Infrastructure and Xylem Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
XYL Xylem Inc.
$90.81 -10.0% 1M -40.6% 1Y
Market cap
$21.48B
P/E
19.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.06B
Div. yield
0.02%
Water Treatment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

NWPX Infrastructure leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (NWPX Infrastructure 6, Ferguson Enterprises 3, Xylem 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFERGNWPXXYLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $46.35B $933.58M $21.48B FERG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.8x 17.5x 19.9x NWPX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.5x 18.9x 17.3x XYL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.2% +15.9% +1.9% NWPX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.5% 8.9% 11.9% XYL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.7% 12.5% 8.3% FERG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.0x 0.2x 1.1x NWPX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.5% +76.0% -40.6% NWPX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.7%/yr +32.8%/yr -7.0%/yr NWPX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.1% 40.0% 30.5% FERG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 80/100 79/100 NWPX

Percentile Scorecard

FERGNWPXXYL

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

AxisFERGNWPXXYL
Valuation 44 #26 of 46 100 #1 of 21 90 #3 of 21
Growth 79 #9 of 39 94 #2 of 19 89 #3 of 19
Profitability 87 #6 of 39 80 #4 of 16 73 #5 of 16
Financial Health 50 #24 of 47 70 #7 of 21 55 #10 of 21
Shareholder Returns 70 #10 of 31 56 #5 of 10 89 #2 of 10
Overall 66 80 79
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • NWPX ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • 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

PeriodFERGNWPXXYLSPY
1 month +7.4%-4.3%-10.0% +0.7%
3 months +6.2%-22.8%-22.3% +3.7%
6 months -10.2%-0.3%-23.1% +7.1%
Year to date +8.0%+56.8%-33.3% +12.8%
1 year -3.5%+76.0%-40.6% +11.9%
3 years +56.4%+253.8%+1.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year +16.1%+52.4%+0.6% +22.8%
5 years +59.0%+312.5%-30.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year +9.7%+32.8%-7.0% +10.9%
10 years +353.7%+647.0%+86.8% +262.0%
10 years, per year +16.3%+22.3%+6.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureFERGNWPXXYLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.1%40.0%30.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.9%34.4%36.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.121.300.66 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.111.90-1.33 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.6%-35.8%-45.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.2%-34.6%-40.6% -1.2%
52-week high $267.71$149.94$152.95 $779.14
52-week low $214.24$53.85$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.

MultipleFERGNWPXXYL
P/E now vs peer median 23.1xmedian 26.2x 17.7xmedian 25.4x 19.5xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.1x 1.6xmedian 2.5x 2.3xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.6xmedian 13.5x 10.3xmedian 17.9x 11.9xmedian 17.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.6xmedian 23.0x 10.9xmedian 22.3x 22.6xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 2.6x 2.2xmedian 1.8x 2.0xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median —median 2.55 0.54median 1.73 0.62median 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 monthsFERGNWPXXYL
Revenue $31.35B $602.76M $9.06B
Gross profit $9.73B $125.97M $3.61B
Operating income $2.82B $71.15M $1.37B
Net income $2.03B $53.48M $1.08B
Free cash flow $2.26B $86.83M $921.00M
R&D – – $231.00M
EPS (diluted) $10.42 $5.45 $4.64
Cash & equivalents $820.00M $6.06M $708.00M
Total debt $4.13B $21.50M $2.90B
Shares (diluted) 194.80M 9.81M 233.04M
Enterprise value $43.56B $891.67M $17.21B

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
MetricFERGNWPXXYL
P/E 23.1x 17.7x 19.5x
P/FCF 20.6x 10.9x 22.6x
P/Operating cash flow 17.8x 8.8x 16.4x
P/S 1.5x 1.6x 2.3x
P/B 7.9x 2.2x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 8.9x 2.3x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 15.6x 10.3x 11.9x
EV/EBIT 17.8x 13.5x 16.8x
EV/Revenue 1.6x 1.6x 2.5x
EV/FCF 22.1x 11.0x 25.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.1x 9.0x 18.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.54 0.62

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFERGNWPXXYL
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.2% 15.9% 1.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 11.0% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.5% 26.8% 6.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 16.2% 12.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.6% 47.2% 20.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 25.2% 29.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 31.6% 46.0% 14.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 31.4% 30.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 34.4% 46.1% 19.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 32.7% 31.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 35.9% 58.5% -0.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 43.1% 19.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 42.8% 80.1% -0.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 92.6% 21.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFERGNWPXXYL
Gross margin 31.0% 20.9% 39.8%
EBITDA margin 10.2% 15.4% 21.3%
Operating margin 9.0% 11.8% 15.1%
Pretax margin 8.3% 11.4% 14.8%
Net margin 6.5% 8.9% 11.9%
FCF margin 7.2% 14.4% 10.2%
Operating cash flow margin 8.3% 17.7% 14.0%
Return on equity 34.0% 12.5% 10.3%
Return on assets 11.4% 7.9% 6.2%
Return on invested capital 21.7% 12.5% 8.3%
Return on capital employed 23.4% 12.9% 9.5%
Asset turnover 1.8x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 2.0x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 1.2% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFERGNWPXXYL
Debt / assets 23.2% 3.1% 16.7%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.0x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.0x 0.2x 1.1x
Debt / FCF 1.8x 0.2x 3.1x
Liabilities / assets 67.0% 37.0% 40.7%
Equity / assets 33.0% 63.0% 59.3%
Interest coverage – 48.6x 36.1x
Current ratio 1.8x 2.6x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.8x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.52 4.40 2.97

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFERGNWPXXYL
Dividend yield 1.5% – 1.9%
Net buyback yield 1.8% 0.7% 7.5%
Shareholder yield 3.3% 0.7% 9.4%
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.

ConsensusFERGNWPXXYL
Forward P/E 22.5xFY2026 18.9xFY2026 17.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.68FY2026 $5.19FY2026 $5.26FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.4%FY2026 +45.8%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.5% -7.5% +13.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $34.30BFY2026 $573.90MFY2026 $9.81BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.5%FY2026 +9.1%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.7% +3.8% +0.4%
FERG estimates →NWPX estimates →XYL estimates →

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFERGNWPXXYL
Held by institutions 96.3% 89.5% 92.0%
Institutions holding 938 225 1,093
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.1% +4.6% +0.2%
Institutions buying 477 125 489
Institutions selling 344 65 447
Buyers to sellers 1.39 1.92 1.09
FERG holders →NWPX holders →XYL holders →

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.

FERGNWPXXYL
FERG 1.00 0.31 0.36
NWPX 0.31 1.00 0.18
XYL 0.36 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry
FERG · Industrial Distribution
+GWWW.W. Grainger +FASTFastenal +RSReliance +WCCWesco International +WSOWatsco +AVTRAvantor +AITApplied Industrial Technologies +QXOQxo
Plot all 81 Industrial Distribution stocks → Plot all 57 Water Treatment stocks →

Related Comparisons

FERG vs GWWW.W. Grainger FERG vs FASTFastenal FERG vs RSReliance FERG vs WCCWesco International

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FERG, NWPX and XYL?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $46.35B, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) $933.58M, Xylem (XYL) $21.48B.

Which stock is cheaper, FERG, NWPX and XYL?

NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.8x, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) 17.5x, Xylem (XYL) 19.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Xylem (XYL) is cheapest (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.5x, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) 18.9x, Xylem (XYL) 17.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) +15.9%, Xylem (XYL) +1.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Xylem (XYL) has the highest net margin (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) 8.9%, Xylem (XYL) 11.9%). On return on invested capital, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) 12.5%, Xylem (XYL) 8.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) returned the most: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -3.5%, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) +76.0%, Xylem (XYL) -40.6%. Over five years, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) compounded fastest (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +9.7%/yr, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) +32.8%/yr, Xylem (XYL) -7.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 0.00%, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) 0.00%, Xylem (XYL) 0.02%. Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) and NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has been the steadiest (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 30.1%, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) 40.0%, Xylem (XYL) 30.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FERG, NWPX 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, NWPX Infrastructure (NWPX) 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.