IESC vs PWR vs XYL Stock Comparison

IES Holdings, Quanta Services and Xylem Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IESC IES Holdings, Inc.
$223.79 -31.0% 1M -46.5% 1Y
Market cap
$8.15B
P/E
17.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.99B
Div. yield
–
Utility Construction Industrials
1 win
PWR Quanta Services, Inc.
$635.18 -2.6% 1M +41.6% 1Y
Market cap
$92.93B
P/E
55.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$37.29B
Div. yield
–
Utility Construction Industrials
4 wins
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
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Quanta Services leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Quanta Services 4, Xylem 4, IES Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIESCPWRXYLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.15B $92.93B $21.48B PWR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.9x 55.2x 19.9x IESC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.6x 40.0x 17.3x XYL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +22.7% +37.1% +1.9% PWR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.4% — 11.9% XYL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 8.3% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 1.1x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -46.5% +41.6% -40.6% PWR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +35.1%/yr +39.3%/yr -7.0%/yr PWR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 105.3% 45.2% 30.5% XYL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 72/100 46/100 79/100 XYL

Percentile Scorecard

IESCPWRXYL

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

AxisIESCPWRXYL
Valuation 49 #27 of 52 20 #42 of 52 90 #3 of 21
Growth 86 #6 of 37 78 #9 of 37 89 #3 of 19
Profitability 94 #3 of 37 72 #11 of 37 73 #5 of 16
Financial Health 88 #8 of 57 41 #34 of 57 55 #10 of 21
Shareholder Returns 42 #16 of 27 19 #22 of 27 89 #2 of 10
Overall 72 46 79
  • IESC ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • PWR ranked among 57 companies in Construction Services
  • 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

PeriodIESCPWRXYLSPY
1 month -31.0%-2.6%-10.0% +0.7%
3 months -60.8%-3.5%-22.3% +3.7%
6 months -65.3%-12.7%-23.1% +7.1%
Year to date -42.5%+50.5%-33.3% +12.8%
1 year -46.5%+41.6%-40.6% +11.9%
3 years +265.4%+285.5%+1.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year +54.1%+56.8%+0.6% +22.8%
5 years +348.9%+423.7%-30.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year +35.1%+39.3%-7.0% +10.9%
10 years +1,432.8%+2,124.0%+86.8% +262.0%
10 years, per year +31.4%+36.4%+6.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureIESCPWRXYLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 105.3%45.2%30.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 129.8%42.8%36.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.981.720.66 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.440.92-1.33 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -73.1%-33.9%-45.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -71.8%-19.1%-40.6% -1.2%
52-week high $793.96$785.24$152.95 $779.14
52-week low $213.54$413.17$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.

MultipleIESCPWRXYL
P/E now vs peer median 19.6xmedian 28.1x 56.7xmedian 28.1x 19.5xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 0.8x 2.6xmedian 0.8x 2.3xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.5xmedian 12.7x —median 12.7x 11.9xmedian 17.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 39.0xmedian 25.0x 42.8xmedian 25.0x 22.6xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 7.3xmedian 2.5x 9.0xmedian 2.5x 2.0xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.26median 0.60 1.71median 0.60 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 monthsIESCPWRXYL
Revenue $3.99B $37.29B $9.06B
Gross profit $1.05B $5.88B $3.61B
Operating income $492.85M $2.55B $1.37B
Net income $457.91M – $1.08B
Free cash flow $228.40M – $921.00M
R&D – – $231.00M
EPS (diluted) $11.29 $11.04 $4.64
Cash & equivalents $77.28M $2.32B $708.00M
Total debt – – $2.90B
Shares (diluted) 40.40M 152.44M 233.04M
Enterprise value $7.00B $92.93B $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
MetricIESCPWRXYL
P/E 19.6x 56.7x 19.5x
P/FCF 39.0x 42.8x 22.6x
P/Operating cash flow 24.0x – 16.4x
P/S 2.2x 2.6x 2.3x
P/B 7.3x 9.0x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 7.6x 12.8x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 15.5x – 11.9x
EV/EBIT 17.3x – 16.8x
EV/Revenue 2.1x 2.6x 2.5x
EV/FCF 37.3x – 25.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 23.0x – 18.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.26 1.71 0.62

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIESCPWRXYL
Revenue growth (1Y) 22.7% 37.1% 1.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 19.3% 24.1% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 29.0% 42.6% 6.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 37.7% 27.9% 12.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 39.1% 61.2% 20.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 55.3% 33.7% 29.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 66.5% – 14.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 67.8% – 30.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 69.8% 64.2% 19.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 74.5% 33.1% 31.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 50.4% – -0.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 41.6% – 19.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 23.2% – -0.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.1% – 21.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIESCPWRXYL
Gross margin 26.3% – 39.8%
EBITDA margin 13.8% – 21.3%
Operating margin 12.4% – 15.1%
Pretax margin 14.5% – 14.8%
Net margin 11.4% – 11.9%
FCF margin 5.7% – 10.2%
Operating cash flow margin 9.3% – 14.0%
Return on equity 39.8% 16.8% 10.3%
Return on assets 21.4% 5.6% 6.2%
Return on invested capital – – 8.3%
Return on capital employed 41.3% – 9.5%
Asset turnover 1.9x 1.2x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x – 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% – 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIESCPWRXYL
Debt / assets – – 16.7%
Debt / equity – – 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 1.1x
Debt / FCF – – 3.1x
Liabilities / assets 46.0% 67.6% 40.7%
Equity / assets 54.0% 32.4% 59.3%
Interest coverage 140.8x – 36.1x
Current ratio 1.6x 1.2x 1.4x
Quick ratio 1.2x – 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.4x – 0.2x
Altman Z-score 8.60 – 2.97

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIESCPWRXYL
Dividend yield – 0.1% 1.9%
Net buyback yield 0.2% – 7.5%
Shareholder yield 0.2% 0.1% 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.

ConsensusIESCPWRXYL
Forward P/E 20.6xFY2026 40.0xFY2026 17.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.85FY2026 $15.88FY2026 $5.26FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +58.9%FY2026 +47.7%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +18.0% +27.0% +13.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.10BFY2026 $40.73BFY2026 $9.81BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +21.7%FY2026 +43.0%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +60.7% +9.6% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIESCPWRXYL
Held by institutions 96.8% 88.9% 92.0%
Institutions holding 413 1,921 1,093
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% +13.5% +0.2%
Institutions buying 224 972 489
Institutions selling 144 705 447
Buyers to sellers 1.56 1.38 1.09

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.

IESCPWRXYL
IESC 1.00 0.54 0.04
PWR 0.54 1.00 0.06
XYL 0.04 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IESC, PWR and XYL?

Quanta Services (PWR) is the largest by market capitalisation: IES Holdings (IESC) $8.15B, Quanta Services (PWR) $92.93B, Xylem (XYL) $21.48B.

Which stock is cheaper, IESC, PWR and XYL?

IES Holdings (IESC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (IES Holdings (IESC) 17.9x, Quanta Services (PWR) 55.2x, Xylem (XYL) 19.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Xylem (XYL) is cheapest (IES Holdings (IESC) 20.6x, Quanta Services (PWR) 40.0x, 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?

Quanta Services (PWR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: IES Holdings (IESC) +22.7%, Quanta Services (PWR) +37.1%, Xylem (XYL) +1.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Xylem (XYL) has the highest net margin (IES Holdings (IESC) 11.4%, Xylem (XYL) 11.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Quanta Services (PWR) returned the most: IES Holdings (IESC) -46.5%, Quanta Services (PWR) +41.6%, Xylem (XYL) -40.6%. Over five years, Quanta Services (PWR) compounded fastest (IES Holdings (IESC) +35.1%/yr, Quanta Services (PWR) +39.3%/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: IES Holdings (IESC) 0.00%, Quanta Services (PWR) 0.00%, Xylem (XYL) 0.02%. IES Holdings (IESC) and Quanta Services (PWR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Xylem (XYL) has been the steadiest (IES Holdings (IESC) 105.3%, Quanta Services (PWR) 45.2%, Xylem (XYL) 30.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IESC, PWR 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, Quanta Services (PWR) leads on 4. 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.