IEX vs WTS vs FLS Stock Comparison

Idex, Watts Water Technologies and Flowserve Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IEX Idex Corp /De/
$229.09 -0.2% 1M +36.1% 1Y
Market cap
$17.10B
P/E
32.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.59B
Div. yield
0.01%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
5 wins
FLS Flowserve Corp
$68.20 -11.7% 1M +29.5% 1Y
Market cap
$8.87B
P/E
23.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.63B
Div. yield
–
Pumps and Valves Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Idex leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Idex 5, Watts Water Technologies 5, Flowserve 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIEXWTSFLSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.10B $12.29B $8.87B IEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.9x 32.0x 23.9x FLS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.1x 27.2x 15.7x FLS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.3% +17.1% -0.3% WTS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 14.3% 8.0% IEX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.6% 16.8% 6.6% WTS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x -0.4x 2.9x WTS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% 0.00% IEX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +36.1% +29.0% +29.5% IEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.7%/yr +14.1%/yr +12.9%/yr WTS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.1% 27.1% 48.8% IEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 70/100 58/100 WTS

Percentile Scorecard

IEXWTSFLS

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

AxisIEXWTSFLS
Valuation 36 #131 of 203 27 #149 of 203 50 #102 of 203
Growth 42 #110 of 188 79 #40 of 188 69 #59 of 188
Profitability 84 #31 of 187 90 #19 of 187 54 #86 of 187
Financial Health 72 #64 of 222 91 #21 of 222 33 #150 of 222
Shareholder Returns 45 #85 of 153 63 #57 of 153 86 #23 of 153
Overall 55 70 58
  • IEX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WTS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • FLS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIEXWTSFLSSPY
1 month -0.2%+0.5%-11.7% -1.0%
3 months +2.7%+4.2%-5.8% +2.9%
6 months +11.9%+19.3%-18.0% +6.4%
Year to date +28.7%+30.1%-1.7% +11.4%
1 year +36.1%+29.0%+29.5% +13.1%
3 years +18.9%+108.2%+86.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +5.9%+27.7%+23.2% +21.5%
5 years +3.6%+92.9%+83.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year +0.7%+14.1%+12.9% +10.9%
10 years +165.4%+485.1%+56.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +10.3%+19.3%+4.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureIEXWTSFLSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.1%27.1%48.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.7%25.0%41.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.670.891.74 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.631.070.60 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.9%-44.4%-39.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.8%-8.4%-25.9% -2.5%
52-week high $240.52$392.27$92.04 $779.14
52-week low $161.68$263.55$52.66 $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.

MultipleIEXWTSFLS
P/E now vs peer median 32.6xmedian 25.9x 31.4xmedian 25.9x 23.4xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 1.9x 4.5xmedian 1.9x 1.9xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.0xmedian 13.7x 19.7xmedian 13.7x 20.7xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.3xmedian 21.1x 34.3xmedian 21.1x 21.1xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 2.3x 5.5xmedian 2.3x 3.7xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -9.99median 1.19 2.44median 1.19 1.37median 1.19

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 monthsIEXWTSFLS
Revenue $3.59B $2.68B $4.63B
Gross profit $1.60B $1.31B $1.57B
Operating income $741.70M $512.10M $392.30M
Net income $519.50M $383.80M $390.08M
Free cash flow $641.50M $349.40M $411.44M
EPS (diluted) $7.00 $11.46 $2.89
Cash & equivalents $621.30M $347.90M $731.01M
Total debt $1.86B $700.60M $2.14B
Shares (diluted) 74.20M 33.50M 128.36M
Enterprise value $14.71B $10.70B $5.75B

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
MetricIEXWTSFLS
P/E 32.6x 31.4x 23.4x
P/FCF 26.3x 34.3x 21.1x
P/Operating cash flow 23.6x 30.1x 17.8x
P/S 4.7x 4.5x 1.9x
P/B 4.2x 5.5x 3.7x
P/Tangible book 5.9x 6.3x 4.4x
EV/EBITDA 19.0x 19.7x 20.7x
EV/EBIT 24.4x 22.9x 25.7x
EV/Revenue 5.1x 4.4x 2.2x
EV/FCF 28.3x 33.6x 24.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.3x 29.5x 20.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -9.99 2.44 1.37

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIEXWTSFLS
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.3% 17.1% -0.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.5% 10.3% 5.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.1% 18.0% 4.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.5% 13.0% 10.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.8% 26.4% -22.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -1.2% 15.5% 11.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 10.7% 23.2% 24.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.0% 12.7% 15.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 12.6% 23.2% 30.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.3% 12.8% 17.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 11.1% 12.1% 1.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 12.5% 81.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 9.3% 10.3% 3.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.0% 11.4% 348.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIEXWTSFLS
Gross margin 44.7% 48.9% 33.9%
EBITDA margin 26.6% 22.3% 10.5%
Operating margin 20.7% 19.1% 8.5%
Pretax margin 19.0% 19.0% 11.9%
Net margin 14.5% 14.3% 8.0%
FCF margin 17.9% 13.1% 8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 20.0% 14.9% 10.5%
Return on equity 12.9% 17.9% 16.9%
Return on assets 7.5% 13.0% 6.5%
Return on invested capital 9.6% 16.8% 6.6%
Return on capital employed 11.7% 21.1% 8.6%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.9x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.0x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.9% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIEXWTSFLS
Debt / assets 26.8% 3.7% 33.8%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.0x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x -0.4x 2.9x
Debt / FCF 2.9x 0.3x 5.2x
Liabilities / assets 42.2% 25.8% 63.2%
Equity / assets 57.8% 74.2% 36.8%
Interest coverage – 50.2x 4.6x
Current ratio 3.0x 2.7x 2.2x
Quick ratio 2.0x 1.5x 1.2x
Cash ratio 1.1x 0.7x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 5.49 12.02 3.53

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIEXWTSFLS
Dividend yield 1.3% 0.6% 1.3%
Net buyback yield 1.8% 0.1% 2.6%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 0.8% 3.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 41.1% 19.2% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 33.3% 21.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.4% 21.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 5.0% 20.1% –

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.

ConsensusIEXWTSFLS
Forward P/E 25.1xFY2026 27.2xFY2026 15.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.14FY2026 $13.22FY2026 $4.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.0%FY2026 +25.0%FY2026 +19.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.0% +13.2% +12.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.93BFY2026 $3.02BFY2026 $4.72BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +23.8%FY2026 -0.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.0% -5.1% +5.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIEXWTSFLS
Held by institutions 100.0% 98.6% 100.0%
Institutions holding 686 579 584
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.1% +1.9% +14.6%
Institutions buying 351 295 299
Institutions selling 201 187 201
Buyers to sellers 1.75 1.58 1.49

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.

IEXWTSFLS
IEX 1.00 0.45 0.48
WTS 0.45 1.00 0.35
FLS 0.48 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IEX, WTS and FLS?

Idex (IEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Idex (IEX) $17.10B, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) $12.29B, Flowserve (FLS) $8.87B.

Which stock is cheaper, IEX, WTS and FLS?

Flowserve (FLS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Idex (IEX) 32.9x, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 32.0x, Flowserve (FLS) 23.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Flowserve (FLS) is cheapest (Idex (IEX) 25.1x, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 27.2x, Flowserve (FLS) 15.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Watts Water Technologies (WTS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Idex (IEX) +7.3%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) +17.1%, Flowserve (FLS) -0.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idex (IEX) has the highest net margin (Idex (IEX) 14.5%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 14.3%, Flowserve (FLS) 8.0%). On return on invested capital, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) leads (Idex (IEX) 9.6%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 16.8%, Flowserve (FLS) 6.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Idex (IEX) returned the most: Idex (IEX) +36.1%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) +29.0%, Flowserve (FLS) +29.5%. Over five years, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) compounded fastest (Idex (IEX) +0.7%/yr, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) +14.1%/yr, Flowserve (FLS) +12.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Idex (IEX) has the highest dividend yield: Idex (IEX) 0.01%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 0.01%, Flowserve (FLS) 0.00%. Flowserve (FLS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Idex (IEX) has been the steadiest (Idex (IEX) 22.1%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 27.1%, Flowserve (FLS) 48.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IEX, WTS and FLS?

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