ITW vs HWM vs AME Stock Comparison

Illinois Tool Works, Howmet Aerospace and Ametek Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$281.43 +5.3% 1M +16.3% 1Y
Market cap
$82.63B
P/E
25.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.65B
Div. yield
0.02%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
5 wins
HWM Howmet Aerospace Inc.
$205.71 -10.9% 1M +1.1% 1Y
Market cap
$84.90B
P/E
41.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.73B
Div. yield
0.00%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
5 wins
AME Ametek Inc/
$251.75 +0.4% 1M +36.7% 1Y
Market cap
$55.48B
P/E
35.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.86B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Howmet Aerospace leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Howmet Aerospace 5, Illinois Tool Works 5, Ametek 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionITWHWMAMELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $82.63B $84.90B $55.48B HWM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.6x 41.4x 35.2x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.4x 39.6x 30.7x ITW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.8% +22.0% +12.7% HWM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 19.4% 21.1% 20.0% HWM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 27.1% 21.5% 12.8% ITW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 1.4x 0.6x AME
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.01% ITW
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +16.3% +1.1% +36.7% AME
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.3%/yr +47.3%/yr +13.7%/yr HWM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 35.5% 23.9% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 73/100 63/100 HWM

Percentile Scorecard

ITWHWMAME

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

AxisITWHWMAME
Valuation 28 #147 of 203 40 #60 of 100 18 #166 of 203
Growth 35 #122 of 188 90 #11 of 96 64 #68 of 188
Profitability 100 #2 of 183 99 #2 of 95 94 #12 of 183
Financial Health 26 #161 of 216 47 #56 of 105 69 #67 of 216
Shareholder Returns 62 #58 of 152 88 #9 of 65 68 #49 of 152
Overall 50 73 63
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • HWM ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • AME ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodITWHWMAMESPY
1 month +5.3%-10.9%+0.4% +0.7%
3 months -0.8%-25.8%+4.9% +3.7%
6 months +9.1%-15.4%+6.9% +7.1%
Year to date +14.3%+0.3%+22.6% +12.8%
1 year +16.3%+1.1%+36.7% +11.9%
3 years +25.9%+371.8%+79.7% +85.2%
3 years, per year +8.0%+67.8%+21.6% +22.8%
5 years +23.5%+592.9%+90.1% +67.6%
5 years, per year +4.3%+47.3%+13.7% +10.9%
10 years +147.2%—+470.5% +262.0%
10 years, per year +9.5%—+19.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureITWHWMAMESPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%35.5%23.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.7%36.5%22.9% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.471.090.98 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.770.031.54 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.9%-36.5%-27.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.1%-29.7%-2.6% -1.2%
52-week high $299.60$292.71$258.54 $779.14
52-week low $241.07$185.88$184.19 $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.

MultipleITWHWMAME
P/E now vs peer median 24.8xmedian 25.8x 39.9xmedian 26.9x 36.6xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 1.9x 8.4xmedian 3.0x 7.3xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.3xmedian 14.6x 28.2xmedian 15.0x 24.1xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.9xmedian 22.2x 42.4xmedian 27.2x 31.6xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 25.5xmedian 2.2x 14.2xmedian 2.5x 5.1xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 8.57median 1.45 0.81median 0.93 4.20median 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 monthsITWHWMAME
Revenue $16.65B $9.73B $7.86B
Gross profit $7.38B $3.56B $2.86B
Operating income $4.43B $2.73B $2.04B
Net income $3.23B $2.05B $1.58B
Free cash flow $2.87B $1.93B $1.82B
R&D – $38.00M –
EPS (diluted) $11.31 $5.13 $6.86
Cash & equivalents $809.00M $507.00M $495.45M
Total debt $9.37B $4.83B $2.04B
Shares (diluted) 285.30M 400.00M 229.86M
Enterprise value $79.31B $80.65B $53.60B

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
MetricITWHWMAME
P/E 24.8x 39.9x 36.6x
P/FCF 27.9x 42.4x 31.6x
P/Operating cash flow 24.5x 34.1x 29.4x
P/S 4.8x 8.4x 7.3x
P/B 25.5x 14.2x 5.1x
P/Tangible book 30.8x 16.7x 8.2x
EV/EBITDA 18.3x 28.2x 24.1x
EV/EBIT 20.0x 31.6x 29.1x
EV/Revenue 5.3x 8.9x 7.5x
EV/FCF 30.9x 44.7x 32.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.1x 35.9x 30.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 8.57 0.81 4.20

Growth

14 metrics
MetricITWHWMAME
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.8% 22.0% 12.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.1% 14.9% 7.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.7% 33.7% 13.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.8% 26.3% 7.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 6.4% 36.4% 11.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 35.5% 8.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 6.7% 41.6% 9.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.9% 47.5% 8.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 9.1% 43.6% 10.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 2.9% 49.5% 8.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.5% 40.3% 8.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.5% 38.8% 11.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 0.8% 50.9% 8.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.4% 41.0% 12.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricITWHWMAME
Gross margin 44.3% 36.6% 36.4%
EBITDA margin 29.0% 31.4% 31.2%
Operating margin 26.6% 28.1% 25.9%
Pretax margin 25.2% 25.8% 24.3%
Net margin 19.4% 21.1% 20.0%
FCF margin 17.2% 19.8% 23.2%
Operating cash flow margin 19.6% 24.7% 24.9%
Return on equity 106.9% 35.7% 14.2%
Return on assets 19.6% 15.5% 9.6%
Return on invested capital 27.1% 21.5% 12.8%
Return on capital employed 38.9% 24.7% 14.8%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.2x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 1.0% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricITWHWMAME
Debt / assets 56.8% 36.4% 12.3%
Debt / equity 3.0x 0.8x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 1.4x 0.6x
Debt / FCF 3.3x 2.5x 1.1x
Liabilities / assets 81.0% 56.6% 32.1%
Equity / assets 19.0% 43.4% 67.9%
Interest coverage 14.3x – 21.1x
Current ratio 1.3x 1.9x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.7x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 8.24 8.71 8.50

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricITWHWMAME
Dividend yield 2.3% 0.2% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 2.0% 1.6% 0.7%
Shareholder yield 4.4% 1.8% 1.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 57.4% 9.9% 18.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) 64.6% 10.5% 16.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 5.2% 23.8% 9.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 5.1% 43.3% 11.3%

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.

ConsensusITWHWMAME
Forward P/E 26.4xFY2026 39.6xFY2026 30.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.67FY2026 $5.19FY2026 $8.20FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +37.7%FY2026 +10.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.3% +31.2% +8.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.46BFY2026 $10.37BFY2026 $7.96BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +25.7%FY2026 +7.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.4% +15.9% +18.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersITWHWMAME
Held by institutions 84.9% 91.0% 89.6%
Institutions holding 1,970 1,601 1,196
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +0.7% +2.3%
Institutions buying 847 908 615
Institutions selling 750 484 399
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.88 1.54

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.

ITWHWMAME
ITW 1.00 0.30 0.51
HWM 0.30 1.00 0.45
AME 0.51 0.45 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ITW, HWM and AME?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $82.63B, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) $84.90B, Ametek (AME) $55.48B.

Which stock is cheaper, ITW, HWM and AME?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.6x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 41.4x, Ametek (AME) 35.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is cheapest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 26.4x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 39.6x, Ametek (AME) 30.7x). 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: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.8%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +22.0%, Ametek (AME) +12.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) has the highest net margin (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 19.4%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 21.1%, Ametek (AME) 20.0%). On return on invested capital, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) leads (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 27.1%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 21.5%, Ametek (AME) 12.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ametek (AME) returned the most: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +16.3%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +1.1%, Ametek (AME) +36.7%. Over five years, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) compounded fastest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.3%/yr, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +47.3%/yr, Ametek (AME) +13.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has the highest dividend yield: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 0.02%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 0.00%, Ametek (AME) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.3%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 35.5%, Ametek (AME) 23.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ITW, HWM and AME?

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