GATX vs POWL vs CAT Stock Comparison

Gatx, Powell Industries and Caterpillar Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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GATX Gatx Corp
$190.77 +10.7% 1M +25.4% 1Y
Market cap
$6.69B
P/E
17.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.21B
Div. yield
–
Rail Equipment Industrials
6 wins
POWL Powell Industries Inc
$143.10 -27.7% 1M +12.9% 1Y
Market cap
$4.59B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.16B
Div. yield
0.00%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
2 wins
CAT Caterpillar Inc
$591.25 -30.3% 1M +8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$255.56B
P/E
23.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$74.73B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Gatx leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Gatx 6, Caterpillar 4, Powell Industries 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGATXPOWLCATLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.69B $4.59B $255.56B CAT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.1x 24.0x 23.6x GATX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.0x 27.7x 22.9x GATX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +29.7% +7.0% +18.4% GATX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.7% 16.5% 14.5% GATX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.7% — 15.9% CAT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 11.7x — 2.5x CAT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% CAT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +25.4% +12.9% +8.0% GATX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.8%/yr +72.9%/yr +23.5%/yr POWL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 24.8% 65.6% 40.7% GATX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 72/100 55/100 POWL

Percentile Scorecard

GATXPOWLCAT

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

AxisGATXPOWLCAT
Valuation 44 #115 of 204 50 #103 of 204 33 #137 of 204
Growth 64 #69 of 191 92 #17 of 191 71 #57 of 191
Profitability 61 #75 of 189 97 #6 of 189 93 #14 of 189
Financial Health 3 #214 of 221 76 #54 of 221 17 #183 of 221
Shareholder Returns 85 #24 of 159 47 #85 of 159 63 #60 of 159
Overall 51 72 55
  • GATX ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • POWL ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • CAT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGATXPOWLCATSPY
1 month +10.7%-27.7%-30.3% -1.0%
3 months +6.3%-31.3%-32.2% -0.4%
6 months -4.4%-55.3%-36.2% +4.5%
Year to date +12.5%+34.7%+3.2% +12.4%
1 year +25.4%+12.9%+8.0% +13.6%
3 years +75.0%+436.0%+145.6% +76.4%
3 years, per year +20.5%+75.1%+34.9% +20.8%
5 years +82.9%+1,442.0%+187.2% +63.7%
5 years, per year +12.8%+72.9%+23.5% +10.4%
10 years +327.4%+1,101.2%+618.3% +267.7%
10 years, per year +15.6%+28.2%+21.8% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureGATXPOWLCATSPY
Volatility, 1Y 24.8%65.6%40.7% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 25.3%70.2%43.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.562.341.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.020.200.20 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.6%-55.9%-44.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.0%-55.6%-44.5% -1.6%
52-week high $200.76$322.05$1,064.90 $779.14
52-week low $152.11$94.02$546.13 $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.

MultipleGATXPOWLCAT
P/E now vs peer median 17.4xmedian 25.5x 27.3xmedian 25.5x 25.1xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 1.9x 4.5xmedian 1.9x 3.6xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.5xmedian 14.4x 19.4xmedian 14.4x 20.1xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -1.5xmedian 23.3x 21.4xmedian 23.3x 30.2xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.2x 6.9xmedian 2.2x 14.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.00median 1.16 0.38median 1.16 1.93median 1.16

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 monthsGATXPOWLCAT
Revenue $2.21B $1.16B $74.73B
Gross profit – $348.18M $25.66B
Operating income – $227.67M $13.09B
Net income $400.70M $190.86M $10.84B
Free cash flow -$4.47B $243.96M $8.99B
R&D – $14.98M $2.27B
EPS (diluted) $10.92 $5.21 $23.45
Cash & equivalents $390.00M $633.56M $6.71B
Total debt $11.94B – $45.15B
Shares (diluted) 35.80M 36.60M 462.50M
Enterprise value $4.07B $2.43B $227.26B

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
MetricGATXPOWLCAT
P/E 17.4x 27.3x 25.1x
P/FCF -1.5x 21.4x 30.2x
P/Operating cash flow 7.7x 20.4x 20.0x
P/S 3.0x 4.5x 3.6x
P/B 1.9x 6.9x 14.0x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 6.9x 14.3x
EV/EBITDA 18.5x 19.4x 20.1x
EV/EBIT 52.0x 20.1x 23.7x
EV/Revenue 8.2x 4.0x 4.2x
EV/FCF -4.1x 18.8x 34.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.1x 17.9x 22.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.00 0.38 1.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGATXPOWLCAT
Revenue growth (1Y) 29.7% 7.0% 18.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 17.4% 21.0% 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 11.9% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 39.2% 5.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 8.0% 13.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 74.2% 7.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 28.1% 8.8% 14.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.4% 73.1% 9.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 25.7% 8.6% 17.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 17.4% 72.8% 13.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.7% 153.9% 19.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.1% 25.5% 10.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -765.1% 201.1% 16.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -63.4% 25.0% 7.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGATXPOWLCAT
Gross margin – 30.1% 34.3%
EBITDA margin 44.6% 20.4% 20.7%
Operating margin – 19.7% 17.5%
Pretax margin 15.8% 21.2% 18.6%
Net margin 17.7% 16.5% 14.5%
FCF margin -202.1% 21.1% 12.0%
Operating cash flow margin 39.1% 22.1% 18.2%
Return on equity 11.1% 26.1% 57.0%
Return on assets 2.3% 14.8% 10.9%
Return on invested capital 1.7% – 15.9%
Return on capital employed – 34.0% 22.1%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.9x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 1.3x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGATXPOWLCAT
Debt / assets 69.1% – 44.0%
Debt / equity 3.4x – 2.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 11.7x – 2.5x
Debt / FCF -2.7x – 5.0x
Liabilities / assets 79.5% 46.2% 81.1%
Equity / assets 20.5% 53.8% 18.9%
Interest coverage – – 6.8x
Current ratio – 2.0x 1.4x
Quick ratio – 1.8x 0.5x
Cash ratio – 1.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 7.44 4.24

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGATXPOWLCAT
Dividend yield 1.4% 0.2% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 2.7% – 2.7%
Shareholder yield 4.0% 0.2% 3.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 6.8% 25.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 5.3% 31.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.6% 4.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 1.8% 4.1%

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.

ConsensusGATXPOWLCAT
Forward P/E 20.0xFY2026 27.7xFY2026 22.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.52FY2026 $5.17FY2026 $25.79FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.8%FY2026 +4.4%FY2026 +35.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +25.9% +26.9% +31.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.22BFY2026 $1.24BFY2026 $84.12BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +27.4%FY2026 +12.4%FY2026 +24.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.1% +26.2% +1.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGATXPOWLCAT
Held by institutions 100.0% 75.0% 72.3%
Institutions holding 414 583 4,063
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% -4.3% +0.6%
Institutions buying 180 320 1,892
Institutions selling 142 215 1,597
Buyers to sellers 1.27 1.49 1.18

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.

GATXPOWLCAT
GATX 1.00 0.27 0.28
POWL 0.27 1.00 0.68
CAT 0.28 0.68 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GATX, POWL and CAT?

Caterpillar (CAT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Gatx (GATX) $6.69B, Powell Industries (POWL) $4.59B, Caterpillar (CAT) $255.56B.

Which stock is cheaper, GATX, POWL and CAT?

Gatx (GATX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Gatx (GATX) 17.1x, Powell Industries (POWL) 24.0x, Caterpillar (CAT) 23.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Gatx (GATX) is cheapest (Gatx (GATX) 20.0x, Powell Industries (POWL) 27.7x, Caterpillar (CAT) 22.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Gatx (GATX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Gatx (GATX) +29.7%, Powell Industries (POWL) +7.0%, Caterpillar (CAT) +18.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Gatx (GATX) has the highest net margin (Gatx (GATX) 17.7%, Powell Industries (POWL) 16.5%, Caterpillar (CAT) 14.5%). On return on invested capital, Caterpillar (CAT) leads (Gatx (GATX) 1.7%, Caterpillar (CAT) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Gatx (GATX) returned the most: Gatx (GATX) +25.4%, Powell Industries (POWL) +12.9%, Caterpillar (CAT) +8.0%. Over five years, Powell Industries (POWL) compounded fastest (Gatx (GATX) +12.8%/yr, Powell Industries (POWL) +72.9%/yr, Caterpillar (CAT) +23.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Caterpillar (CAT) has the highest dividend yield: Gatx (GATX) 0.00%, Powell Industries (POWL) 0.00%, Caterpillar (CAT) 0.01%. Gatx (GATX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Gatx (GATX) has been the steadiest (Gatx (GATX) 24.8%, Powell Industries (POWL) 65.6%, Caterpillar (CAT) 40.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GATX, POWL and CAT?

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