ITW vs KMT vs NDSN Stock Comparison

Illinois Tool Works, Kennametal and Nordson Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.93 +0.7% 1M +11.3% 1Y
Market cap
$78.58B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
2.37%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins
KMT Kennametal Inc
$29.88 -3.7% 1M +31.2% 1Y
Market cap
$2.28B
P/E
6.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.36B
Div. yield
2.68%
Power Tools Industrials
7 wins
NDSN Nordson Corp
$324.30 -0.5% 1M +36.1% 1Y
Market cap
$18.06B
P/E
32.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
1.05%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Kennametal leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Kennametal 7, Nordson 3, Illinois Tool Works 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionITWKMTNDSNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $78.58B $2.28B $18.06B ITW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.0x 6.7x 32.5x KMT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.9x 5.7x 29.1x KMT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +19.8% +7.0% KMT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 14.5% 18.6% NDSN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 16.5% 13.1% KMT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.0x 1.7x KMT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.37% 2.68% 1.05% KMT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.3% +31.2% +36.1% NDSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.0%/yr -5.5%/yr +5.3%/yr NDSN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 44.3% 22.2% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 65/100 57/100 KMT

Percentile Scorecard

ITWKMTNDSN

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

AxisITWKMTNDSN
Valuation 24 #154 of 203 71 #60 of 203 30 #142 of 203
Growth 35 #123 of 188 77 #45 of 188 55 #85 of 188
Profitability – 69 #57 of 183 96 #8 of 183
Financial Health – 51 #106 of 217 54 #101 of 217
Shareholder Returns 87 #21 of 153 55 #70 of 153 51 #76 of 153
Overall 49 65 57
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • KMT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • NDSN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodITWKMTNDSNSPY
1 month +0.7%-3.7%-0.5% -0.2%
3 months -6.5%-16.1%+7.2% +3.9%
6 months +2.8%-23.9%+15.1% +8.2%
Year to date +12.0%+5.2%+34.9% +12.9%
1 year +11.3%+31.2%+36.1% +12.3%
3 years +23.6%+32.8%+52.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +7.3%+9.9%+15.2% +23.3%
5 years +21.8%-24.8%+29.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +4.0%-5.5%+5.3% +10.9%
10 years +143.5%+10.8%+225.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +9.3%+1.0%+12.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureITWKMTNDSNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%44.3%22.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.7%42.0%21.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.471.320.88 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.530.701.62 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.9%-57.4%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-30.9%-3.1% -1.2%
52-week high $299.60$43.27$334.70 $779.14
52-week low $241.07$21.95$226.69 $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.

MultipleITWKMTNDSN
P/E now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 25.2x 6.7xmedian 25.2x 32.5xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 1.9x 1.0xmedian 1.9x 6.1xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x 4.7xmedian 14.0x 21.2xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 21.7x -28.1xmedian 21.7x 24.9xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 25.0xmedian 2.3x 1.4xmedian 2.3x 5.5xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.32 0.15median 1.32 7.39median 1.32

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 monthsITWKMTNDSN
Revenue – $2.36B $2.98B
Gross profit – $969.96M $1.65B
Operating income – $472.53M $800.96M
Net income $3.23B $350.41M $555.18M
Free cash flow – -$80.91M $724.01M
EPS (diluted) – $4.42 $9.91
Cash & equivalents $809.00M $95.79M $113.43M
Total debt – $717.45M $1.73B
Shares (diluted) 287.00M 77.42M 56.03M
Enterprise value $78.59B $1.89B $17.62B

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
MetricITWKMTNDSN
P/E 24.0x 6.7x 32.5x
P/FCF 26.0x -28.1x 24.9x
P/Operating cash flow 24.1x -568.2x 23.4x
P/S 4.6x 1.0x 6.1x
P/B 25.0x 1.4x 5.5x
P/Tangible book 30.2x 1.5x 6.8x
EV/EBITDA – 4.7x 21.2x
EV/EBIT – 6.1x 24.6x
EV/Revenue – 1.2x 6.6x
EV/FCF – -35.8x 27.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.1x -723.3x 25.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.15 7.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricITWKMTNDSN
Revenue growth (1Y) – 19.8% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 4.3% 4.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 62.2% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 14.5% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 230.2% 18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 34.9% 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 6.7% 255.0% 22.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.9% 41.6% 3.5%
EPS growth (1Y) – 269.9% 23.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 44.8% 4.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.5% -101.9% 26.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.5% -26.3% 5.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -167.8% 33.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -35.6% 5.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricITWKMTNDSN
Gross margin – 41.2% 55.3%
EBITDA margin – 26.1% 31.2%
Operating margin – 20.1% 26.9%
Pretax margin – 19.6% 22.6%
Net margin – 14.5% 18.6%
FCF margin – -3.4% 24.3%
Operating cash flow margin – -0.2% 26.0%
Return on equity 106.9% 23.3% 17.2%
Return on assets – 11.9% 9.3%
Return on invested capital – 16.5% 13.1%
Return on capital employed – 20.8% 15.3%
Asset turnover – 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 0.0x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.5% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricITWKMTNDSN
Debt / assets – 22.7% 29.1%
Debt / equity – 0.4x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.0x 1.7x
Debt / FCF – -8.9x 2.4x
Liabilities / assets – 49.1% 45.0%
Equity / assets – 50.9% 55.0%
Interest coverage – 16.5x 8.8x
Current ratio 1.3x 2.6x 1.8x
Quick ratio – 0.7x 1.0x
Cash ratio – 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 3.19 6.26

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricITWKMTNDSN
Dividend yield 2.4% 2.7% 1.0%
Net buyback yield – 0.8% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 3.5% 2.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 17.4% 33.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – -75.2% 25.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) – -1.6% 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -1.9% 7.2%

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.

ConsensusITWKMTNDSN
Forward P/E 25.9xFY2026 5.7xFY2027 29.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.67FY2026 $5.25FY2027 $11.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +14.9%FY2027 +8.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.3% -57.9% +21.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.46BFY2026 $3.22BFY2027 $3.19BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +36.5%FY2027 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.4% +13.7% +5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersITWKMTNDSN
Held by institutions 84.9% 100.0% 76.0%
Institutions holding 1,969 337 755
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +2.5% +3.1%
Institutions buying 846 198 389
Institutions selling 750 95 240
Buyers to sellers 1.13 2.08 1.62

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.

ITWKMTNDSN
ITW 1.00 0.47 0.55
KMT 0.47 1.00 0.48
NDSN 0.55 0.48 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ITW, KMT and NDSN?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $78.58B, Kennametal (KMT) $2.28B, Nordson (NDSN) $18.06B.

Which stock is cheaper, ITW, KMT and NDSN?

Kennametal (KMT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.0x, Kennametal (KMT) 6.7x, Nordson (NDSN) 32.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kennametal (KMT) is cheapest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.9x, Kennametal (KMT) 5.7x, Nordson (NDSN) 29.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Kennametal (KMT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kennametal (KMT) +19.8%, Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nordson (NDSN) has the highest net margin (Kennametal (KMT) 14.5%, Nordson (NDSN) 18.6%). On return on invested capital, Kennametal (KMT) leads (Kennametal (KMT) 16.5%, Nordson (NDSN) 13.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nordson (NDSN) returned the most: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +11.3%, Kennametal (KMT) +31.2%, Nordson (NDSN) +36.1%. Over five years, Nordson (NDSN) compounded fastest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.0%/yr, Kennametal (KMT) -5.5%/yr, Nordson (NDSN) +5.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Kennametal (KMT) has the highest dividend yield: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 2.37%, Kennametal (KMT) 2.68%, Nordson (NDSN) 1.05%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.3%, Kennametal (KMT) 44.3%, Nordson (NDSN) 22.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ITW, KMT and NDSN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Kennametal (KMT) leads on 7. 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.