GLD vs IAU vs PFG Stock Comparison

Spdr Gold Trust, Ishares Gold Trust and Principal Financial Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GLD Spdr Gold Trust
$368.57 -3.7% 1M +1.5% 1Y
Market cap
$129.74B
P/E
5.8x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Asset Management Financial Services
1 win
IAU Ishares Gold Trust
$75.57 -3.8% 1M +1.7% 1Y
Market cap
$25.23B
P/E
4.5x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Asset Management Financial Services
2 wins

Head to Head

5 decided of 12

Ishares Gold Trust leads on 2 of the 12 questions below (Ishares Gold Trust 2, Principal Financial 2, Spdr Gold Trust 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGLDIAUPFGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $129.74B $25.23B $24.18B GLD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 5.8x 4.5x 12.3x IAU
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 12.9x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — — +5.2% –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — — 11.9% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 12.0% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — 2.86% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +1.5% +1.7% +37.9% PFG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.2%/yr +17.4%/yr +11.1%/yr IAU
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.7% 28.6% 22.1% PFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — — 69/100 –

Percentile Scorecard

GLDIAUPFG

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

AxisGLDIAUPFG
Valuation 93 #13 of 181 – 91 #18 of 181
Growth – – 64 #40 of 110
Profitability – – 57 #55 of 127
Financial Health – – 66 #56 of 162
Shareholder Returns – – 69 #24 of 76
Overall – – 69
  • GLD ranked among 209 companies in Asset and Wealth Management
  • IAU ranked among 209 companies in Asset and Wealth Management
  • PFG ranked among 209 companies in Asset and Wealth Management

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGLDIAUPFGSPY
1 month -3.7%-3.8%-0.3% +0.7%
3 months -2.3%-2.2%-0.3% +3.7%
6 months -13.0%-13.0%+12.6% +7.1%
Year to date -7.0%-6.9%+28.8% +12.8%
1 year +1.5%+1.7%+37.9% +11.9%
3 years +99.1%+100.0%+67.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year +25.8%+26.0%+18.8% +22.8%
5 years +121.2%+122.7%+69.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year +17.2%+17.4%+11.1% +10.9%
10 years +203.2%+207.4%+105.6% +262.0%
10 years, per year +11.7%+11.9%+7.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureGLDIAUPFGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.7%28.6%22.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.2%32.0%21.0% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.850.850.55 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.050.061.71 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.4%-26.4%-31.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -25.7%-25.6%-4.1% -1.2%
52-week high $495.90$101.57$118.51 $779.14
52-week low $362.32$74.21$81.01 $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.

MultipleGLDIAUPFG
P/E now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 33.5x 4.5xmedian 33.5x 12.3xmedian 33.5x
P/S now vs peer median —median 4.9x —median 4.9x 1.5xmedian 4.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 12.0x —median 12.0x —median 12.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 14.3x —median 14.3x 4.7xmedian 14.3x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.8x —median 1.8x 2.0xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.97 —median 0.97 0.84median 0.97

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 monthsGLDIAUPFG
Revenue – – $16.63B
Gross profit – – $8.17B
Operating income – – $2.45B
Net income $23.17B $6.18B $2.01B
Free cash flow – – $5.20B
EPS (diluted) – – $9.11
Cash & equivalents – – $4.45B
Total debt – – $4.50B
Shares (diluted) – – 216.90M
Enterprise value -$428.27B $25.23B $1.66B

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
MetricGLDIAUPFG
P/E 5.8x 4.5x 12.3x
P/FCF – – 4.7x
P/Operating cash flow – – 4.4x
P/S – – 1.5x
P/B 1.0x – 2.0x
P/Tangible book 1.0x – 2.3x
EV/EBITDA – – –
EV/EBIT – – 9.4x
EV/Revenue – – 1.4x
EV/FCF – – 4.4x
EV/Operating cash flow – – 4.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – – 0.84

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGLDIAUPFG
Revenue growth (1Y) – – 5.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – – 5.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 7.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 5.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) – – 29.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 10.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -13.8% -40.6% 23.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 125.7% – 10.2%
EPS growth (1Y) – – 30.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – – 14.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – – 30.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 11.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 29.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 12.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGLDIAUPFG
Gross margin – – 49.1%
EBITDA margin – – –
Operating margin – – 14.7%
Pretax margin – – 14.7%
Net margin – – 11.9%
FCF margin – – 31.3%
Operating cash flow margin – – 33.3%
Return on equity 16.3% – 16.7%
Return on assets 16.2% – 0.6%
Return on invested capital – – 12.0%
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover – – 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – – 2.8x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGLDIAUPFG
Debt / assets – – 1.3%
Debt / equity – – 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – – 0.9x
Liabilities / assets 0.0% – 96.5%
Equity / assets 100.0% – 3.5%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGLDIAUPFG
Dividend yield – – 2.9%
Net buyback yield – – 3.8%
Shareholder yield – – 6.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 34.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 13.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 3.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 4.0%

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.

ConsensusGLDIAUPFG
Forward P/E – – 12.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – – $8.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – +6.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +7.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year – – $16.68BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – – +3.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – – 0.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGLDIAUPFG
Held by institutions 36.6% 48.7% 78.8%
Institutions holding 3,007 1,905 950
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% -2.8% +1.3%
Institutions buying 1,155 838 503
Institutions selling 1,154 626 267
Buyers to sellers 1.00 1.34 1.88

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.

GLDIAUPFG
GLD 1.00 1.00 0.14
IAU 1.00 1.00 0.14
PFG 0.14 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GLD, IAU and PFG?

Spdr Gold Trust (GLD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Spdr Gold Trust (GLD) $129.74B, Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) $25.23B, Principal Financial (PFG) $24.18B.

Which stock is cheaper, GLD, IAU and PFG?

Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Spdr Gold Trust (GLD) 5.8x, Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) 4.5x, Principal Financial (PFG) 12.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Principal Financial (PFG) returned the most: Spdr Gold Trust (GLD) +1.5%, Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) +1.7%, Principal Financial (PFG) +37.9%. Over five years, Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) compounded fastest (Spdr Gold Trust (GLD) +17.2%/yr, Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) +17.4%/yr, Principal Financial (PFG) +11.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Principal Financial (PFG) 2.86%. Spdr Gold Trust (GLD) and Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Principal Financial (PFG) has been the steadiest (Spdr Gold Trust (GLD) 28.7%, Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) 28.6%, Principal Financial (PFG) 22.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GLD, IAU and PFG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ishares Gold Trust (IAU) leads on 2. 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.