GE vs HWM vs LECO Stock Comparison

General Electric, Howmet Aerospace and Lincoln Electric Holdings Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GE General Electric Co
$313.11 -1.6% 1M -0.4% 1Y
Market cap
$311.41B
P/E
34.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$52.58B
Div. yield
0.01%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
2 wins
HWM Howmet Aerospace Inc.
$205.71 -10.9% 1M +1.1% 1Y
Market cap
$79.38B
P/E
38.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.73B
Div. yield
0.00%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Lincoln Electric Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Lincoln Electric Holdings 6, Howmet Aerospace 4, General Electric 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGEHWMLECOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $311.41B $79.38B $15.06B GE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.2x 38.7x 26.2x LECO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 41.3x 39.6x 24.5x LECO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +19.6% +22.0% +11.1% HWM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.3% 21.1% 12.4% HWM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -38.7% 21.5% 22.6% LECO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.7x 1.4x 1.0x GE
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% LECO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.4% +1.1% +21.3% LECO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +36.8%/yr +47.3%/yr +14.8%/yr HWM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.4% 35.5% 30.8% LECO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 46/100 73/100 56/100 HWM

Percentile Scorecard

GEHWMLECO

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

AxisGEHWMLECO
Valuation 33 #67 of 100 40 #60 of 100 36 #131 of 203
Growth 33 #65 of 96 90 #11 of 96 46 #103 of 188
Profitability 57 #41 of 95 99 #2 of 95 95 #11 of 183
Financial Health 20 #84 of 105 47 #56 of 105 45 #120 of 216
Shareholder Returns 84 #11 of 65 88 #9 of 65 59 #63 of 152
Overall 46 73 56
  • GE ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • HWM ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGEHWMLECOSPY
1 month -1.6%-10.9%+5.0% +0.7%
3 months -11.8%-25.8%+13.6% +3.7%
6 months +8.0%-15.4%+7.3% +7.1%
Year to date +1.6%+0.3%+18.7% +12.8%
1 year -0.4%+1.1%+21.3% +11.9%
3 years +257.3%+371.8%+62.9% +85.2%
3 years, per year +52.9%+67.8%+17.7% +22.8%
5 years +379.2%+592.9%+99.7% +67.6%
5 years, per year +36.8%+47.3%+14.8% +10.9%
10 years +123.6%—+334.1% +262.0%
10 years, per year +8.4%—+15.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureGEHWMLECOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.4%35.5%30.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.3%36.5%31.1% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.201.091.18 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.010.030.69 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -45.1%-36.5%-35.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.8%-29.7%-4.9% -1.2%
52-week high $381.07$292.71$298.88 $779.14
52-week low $273.25$185.88$220.64 $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.

MultipleGEHWMLECO
P/E now vs peer median 35.6xmedian 26.9x 39.9xmedian 26.9x 26.9xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 6.2xmedian 3.0x 8.4xmedian 3.0x 3.3xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -21.8xmedian 15.0x 28.2xmedian 15.0x 17.9xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 40.5xmedian 27.2x 42.4xmedian 27.2x 30.1xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 2.5x 14.2xmedian 2.5x 9.9xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -124.64median 0.93 0.81median 0.93 3.85median 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 monthsGEHWMLECO
Revenue $52.58B $9.73B $4.64B
Gross profit $18.52B $3.56B $1.65B
Operating income -$16.58B $2.73B $802.52M
Net income $9.13B $2.05B $575.27M
Free cash flow $7.99B $1.93B $511.89M
R&D $1.81B $38.00M –
EPS (diluted) $8.74 $5.13 $10.48
Cash & equivalents $8.76B $507.00M $283.24M
Total debt $19.33B $4.83B $1.15B
Shares (diluted) 1.04B 400.00M 54.87M
Enterprise value $269.93B $75.14B $13.93B

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
MetricGEHWMLECO
P/E 35.6x 39.9x 26.9x
P/FCF 40.5x 42.4x 30.1x
P/Operating cash flow 34.3x 34.1x 23.1x
P/S 6.2x 8.4x 3.3x
P/B 18.2x 14.2x 9.9x
P/Tangible book 23.6x 16.7x 9.9x
EV/EBITDA -21.8x 28.2x 17.9x
EV/EBIT -20.2x 31.6x 20.3x
EV/Revenue 6.4x 8.9x 3.5x
EV/FCF 41.8x 44.7x 31.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 35.4x 35.9x 24.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -124.64 0.81 3.85

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGEHWMLECO
Revenue growth (1Y) 19.6% 22.0% 11.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.2% 14.9% 4.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 33.7% 7.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 10.9% 26.3% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.2% 36.4% 12.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -98.5% 35.5% 7.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 13.2% 41.6% 9.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.4% 47.5% 4.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.5% 43.6% 11.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -0.3% 49.5% 7.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.4% 40.3% 0.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.3% 38.8% 0.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.1% 50.9% -6.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 41.0% -3.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGEHWMLECO
Gross margin 35.2% 36.6% 35.5%
EBITDA margin -29.1% 31.4% 19.5%
Operating margin -31.5% 28.1% 17.3%
Pretax margin 20.3% 25.8% 16.2%
Net margin 17.3% 21.1% 12.4%
FCF margin 15.2% 19.8% 11.0%
Operating cash flow margin 17.9% 24.7% 14.4%
Return on equity 51.2% 35.7% 37.0%
Return on assets 7.2% 15.5% 14.9%
Return on invested capital -38.7% 21.5% 22.6%
Return on capital employed -19.5% 24.7% 27.7%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.7x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.2x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.0% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGEHWMLECO
Debt / assets 15.2% 36.4% 29.5%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.8x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.7x 1.4x 1.0x
Debt / FCF 2.4x 2.5x 2.2x
Liabilities / assets 86.0% 56.6% 60.1%
Equity / assets 14.0% 43.4% 39.9%
Interest coverage -17.9x – –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.9x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.7x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 2.77 8.71 7.76

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGEHWMLECO
Dividend yield 0.6% 0.2% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 2.6% 1.6% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 1.8% 2.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 19.1% 9.9% 30.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 21.8% 10.5% 33.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) 26.6% 23.8% 3.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 36.5% 43.3% 6.3%

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.

ConsensusGEHWMLECO
Forward P/E 41.3xFY2026 39.6xFY2026 24.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.59FY2026 $5.19FY2026 $11.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +19.2%FY2026 +37.7%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +28.1% +31.2% +0.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $54.10BFY2026 $10.37BFY2026 $4.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +27.8%FY2026 +25.7%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.8% +15.9% +5.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGEHWMLECO
Held by institutions 79.4% 91.0% 81.3%
Institutions holding 3,444 1,601 702
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.5% +0.7% +5.5%
Institutions buying 1,831 908 298
Institutions selling 1,149 484 266
Buyers to sellers 1.59 1.88 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.

GEHWMLECO
GE 1.00 0.67 0.41
HWM 0.67 1.00 0.34
LECO 0.41 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GE, HWM and LECO?

General Electric (GE) is the largest by market capitalisation: General Electric (GE) $311.41B, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) $79.38B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $15.06B.

Which stock is cheaper, GE, HWM and LECO?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (General Electric (GE) 34.2x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 38.7x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 26.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is cheapest (General Electric (GE) 41.3x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 39.6x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 24.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: General Electric (GE) +19.6%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +22.0%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +11.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) has the highest net margin (General Electric (GE) 17.3%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 21.1%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 12.4%). On return on invested capital, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads (General Electric (GE) -38.7%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 21.5%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 22.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) returned the most: General Electric (GE) -0.4%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +1.1%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +21.3%. Over five years, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) compounded fastest (General Electric (GE) +36.8%/yr, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +47.3%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +14.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has the highest dividend yield: General Electric (GE) 0.01%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 0.00%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has been the steadiest (General Electric (GE) 33.4%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 35.5%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 30.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GE, HWM and LECO?

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