ICLR vs SHC vs MEDP Stock Comparison

Icon, Sotera Health and Medpace Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ICLR Icon Plc
$182.98 +6.2% 1M +0.5% 1Y
Market cap
$16.12B
P/E
35.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
3 wins
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.49 +0.8% 1M +10.7% 1Y
Market cap
$5.29B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
3 wins
MEDP Medpace Holdings, Inc.
$673.79 +8.9% 1M +13.0% 1Y
Market cap
$19.12B
P/E
36.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.84B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Medpace Holdings leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Medpace Holdings 5, Sotera Health 3, Icon 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionICLRSHCMEDPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.12B $5.29B $19.12B MEDP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 35.9x 32.3x 36.9x SHC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.9x 20.1x 37.9x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.8% +8.1% +20.4% MEDP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.4% 13.4% 18.2% MEDP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 4.7% 9.1% — SHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 3.3x — ICLR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.5% +10.7% +13.0% MEDP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.6%/yr -5.8%/yr +25.1%/yr MEDP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 73.7% 28.4% 45.5% SHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 81/100 59/100 75/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

ICLRSHCMEDP

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

AxisICLRSHCMEDP
Valuation 100 #1 of 11 52 #45 of 92 50 #6 of 11
Growth 70 #4 of 11 66 #30 of 87 100 #1 of 11
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 82 #16 of 86 100 #1 of 11
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 37 #62 of 97 50 #7 of 13
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 81 59 75
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • SHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • MEDP ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICLRSHCMEDPSPY
1 month +6.2%+0.8%+8.9% -0.2%
3 months +1.5%+4.1%+18.0% +3.9%
6 months +78.5%+19.0%+64.5% +8.2%
Year to date +0.4%+4.8%+20.0% +12.9%
1 year +0.5%+10.7%+13.0% +12.3%
3 years -22.2%+47.8%+169.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year -8.0%+13.9%+39.1% +23.3%
5 years -36.1%-25.6%+206.7% +67.9%
5 years, per year -8.6%-5.8%+25.1% +10.9%
10 years +127.4%—+2,244.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year +8.6%—+37.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureICLRSHCMEDPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 73.7%28.4%45.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 87.6%27.0%54.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.441.010.67 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.010.380.28 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-78.2%-42.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.8%-5.5%-0.4% -1.2%
52-week high $202.92$19.57$676.77 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$13.13$393.42 $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.

MultipleICLRSHCMEDP
P/E now vs peer median 32.0xmedian 32.1x 32.3xmedian 24.6x 36.4xmedian 32.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.6x 4.3xmedian 1.6x 6.6xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 38.1x 13.0xmedian 14.6x 28.6xmedian 38.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 16.3xmedian 21.5x 46.8xmedian 21.6x 28.2xmedian 21.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 3.1x 7.9xmedian 3.2x 32.2xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median -13.47median 2.03 0.86median 0.66 1.28median 2.03

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 monthsICLRSHCMEDP
Revenue $8.23B $1.22B $2.84B
Gross profit $1.93B $668.51M $827.16M
Operating income $718.25M $411.34M $607.14M
Net income $448.66M $163.48M $517.83M
Free cash flow $857.06M $112.70M $667.63M
EPS (diluted) $5.68 $0.57 $18.25
Cash & equivalents $808.98M $356.72M $705.32M
Total debt $3.38B $2.14B –
Shares (diluted) 78.97M 288.15M 28.37M
Enterprise value $12.89B $3.97B $16.76B

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
MetricICLRSHCMEDP
P/E 32.0x 32.3x 36.4x
P/FCF 16.3x 46.8x 28.2x
P/Operating cash flow 13.6x 18.1x 26.1x
P/S 1.7x 4.3x 6.6x
P/B 1.5x 7.9x 32.2x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 13.3x 34.1x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 13.0x 28.6x
EV/EBIT 23.1x 17.2x 29.9x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 5.8x 6.4x
EV/FCF 19.3x 62.6x 27.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.1x 24.2x 25.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -13.47 0.86 1.28

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLRSHCMEDP
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.8% 8.1% 20.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.9% 7.6% 16.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -13.4% 7.1% 12.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -6.5% 8.1% 18.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 53.9% 21.8% 19.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -7.0% 23.2% 23.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 55.9% 580.5% 19.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.4% 37.7% 23.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 30.1% 574.9% 21.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -2.4% 37.5% 28.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -9.9% 9.8% 1.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.8% 61.3% 20.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -11.1% 0.0% -1.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.4% 32.6% 20.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLRSHCMEDP
Gross margin 23.4% 55.0% 29.1%
EBITDA margin 13.3% 44.6% 22.4%
Operating margin 8.7% 33.8% 21.4%
Pretax margin 6.3% 21.7% 22.1%
Net margin 5.4% 13.4% 18.2%
FCF margin 10.4% 9.3% 23.5%
Operating cash flow margin 12.5% 24.0% 25.5%
Return on equity 7.6% 25.4% 101.7%
Return on assets 4.3% 5.0% 23.8%
Return on invested capital 4.7% 9.1% –
Return on capital employed 5.3% 13.5% 88.8%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 1.8x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 3.1% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLRSHCMEDP
Debt / assets 20.8% 64.7% –
Debt / equity 0.4x 3.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 3.3x –
Debt / FCF 3.9x 19.0x –
Liabilities / assets 43.8% 79.9% 74.6%
Equity / assets 56.2% 20.1% 25.4%
Interest coverage 3.4x – –
Current ratio 1.3x 2.8x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.9x 2.4x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.3x 1.5x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 2.07 1.94 8.33

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLRSHCMEDP
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 2.7% – 1.3%
Shareholder yield 2.7% – 1.3%
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.

ConsensusICLRSHCMEDP
Forward P/E 17.9xFY2026 20.1xFY2026 37.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.25FY2026 $0.92FY2026 $17.80FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.2%FY2026 +7.0%FY2026 +16.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.2% +21.7% +6.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 $1.33BFY2026 $2.94BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026 +16.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.2% -4.2% +6.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLRSHCMEDP
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 87.8%
Institutions holding 422 316 693
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% +5.9% +3.2%
Institutions buying 233 220 279
Institutions selling 138 64 302
Buyers to sellers 1.69 3.44 0.92

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.

ICLRSHCMEDP
ICLR 1.00 0.32 0.37
SHC 0.32 1.00 0.35
MEDP 0.37 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR, SHC and MEDP?

Medpace Holdings (MEDP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $16.12B, Sotera Health (SHC) $5.29B, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) $19.12B.

Which stock is cheaper, ICLR, SHC and MEDP?

Sotera Health (SHC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Icon (ICLR) 35.9x, Sotera Health (SHC) 32.3x, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) 36.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Icon (ICLR) 17.9x, Sotera Health (SHC) 20.1x, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) 37.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Medpace Holdings (MEDP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) +20.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Medpace Holdings (MEDP) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) 18.2%). On return on invested capital, Sotera Health (SHC) leads (Icon (ICLR) 4.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Medpace Holdings (MEDP) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +0.5%, Sotera Health (SHC) +10.7%, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) +13.0%. Over five years, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -8.6%/yr, Sotera Health (SHC) -5.8%/yr, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) +25.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sotera Health (SHC) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 73.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 28.4%, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) 45.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ICLR, SHC and MEDP?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Medpace Holdings (MEDP) leads on 5. 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.