ITW vs LECO vs SWK Stock Comparison

Illinois Tool Works, Lincoln Electric Holdings and Stanley Black & Decker Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.93 +0.7% 1M +11.3% 1Y
Market cap
$79.02B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Lincoln Electric Holdings leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Lincoln Electric Holdings 5, Stanley Black & Decker 4, Illinois Tool Works 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionITWLECOSWKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $79.02B $15.27B $15.06B ITW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.0x 26.6x 24.3x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.9x 24.3x 17.1x SWK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +11.1% +0.6% LECO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 12.4% 4.1% LECO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 22.6% 6.6% LECO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.0x 2.3x LECO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.03% SWK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.3% +16.6% +37.9% SWK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.0%/yr +15.0%/yr -11.7%/yr LECO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 30.8% 36.5% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 54/100 59/100 SWK

Percentile Scorecard

ITWLECOSWK

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

AxisITWLECOSWK
Valuation 24 #154 of 203 36 #130 of 203 90 #22 of 203
Growth 35 #123 of 188 44 #106 of 188 81 #36 of 188
Profitability – 94 #12 of 183 51 #91 of 183
Financial Health – 44 #121 of 217 28 #157 of 217
Shareholder Returns 87 #21 of 153 54 #71 of 153 46 #83 of 153
Overall 49 54 59
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • SWK ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodITWLECOSWKSPY
1 month +0.7%+3.9%+8.8% -0.2%
3 months -6.5%+5.7%+5.5% +3.9%
6 months +2.8%+8.6%+26.9% +8.2%
Year to date +12.0%+17.8%+33.8% +12.9%
1 year +11.3%+16.6%+37.9% +12.3%
3 years +23.6%+63.5%+21.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year +7.3%+17.8%+6.6% +23.3%
5 years +21.8%+101.1%-46.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year +4.0%+15.0%-11.7% +10.9%
10 years +143.5%+331.4%-13.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +9.3%+15.7%-1.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureITWLECOSWKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%30.8%36.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.7%31.2%32.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.471.181.41 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.530.541.04 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.9%-35.3%-71.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-5.5%-4.5% -1.2%
52-week high $299.60$298.88$104.00 $779.14
52-week low $241.07$220.64$62.12 $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.

MultipleITWLECOSWK
P/E now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 25.2x 26.7xmedian 25.2x 24.0xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 1.9x 3.3xmedian 1.9x 1.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x 17.8xmedian 14.0x 10.6xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 21.7x 29.9xmedian 21.7x 11.6xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 25.0xmedian 2.3x 9.8xmedian 2.3x 1.7xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.32 3.82median 1.32 -4.57median 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 monthsITWLECOSWK
Revenue – $4.64B $15.25B
Gross profit – $1.65B $4.86B
Operating income – $802.52M $1.32B
Net income $3.23B $575.27M $620.50M
Free cash flow – $511.89M $1.29B
EPS (diluted) – $10.48 $4.12
Cash & equivalents $809.00M $283.24M $592.40M
Total debt – $1.15B $4.76B
Shares (diluted) 287.00M 54.87M 150.65M
Enterprise value $79.02B $14.14B $13.59B

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
MetricITWLECOSWK
P/E 24.0x 26.7x 24.0x
P/FCF 26.0x 29.9x 11.6x
P/Operating cash flow 24.1x 22.9x 9.7x
P/S 4.6x 3.3x 1.0x
P/B 25.0x 9.8x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 30.2x 9.8x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA – 17.8x 10.6x
EV/EBIT – 20.1x 14.5x
EV/Revenue – 3.5x 1.3x
EV/FCF – 31.6x 14.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.1x 24.2x 12.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 3.82 -4.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricITWLECOSWK
Revenue growth (1Y) – 11.1% 0.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 4.5% -2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 7.7% 9.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 5.5% 11.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 12.9% 51.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 7.0% 149.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 6.7% 9.6% 29.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.9% 4.9% -7.7%
EPS growth (1Y) – 11.0% 30.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 7.0% -5.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.5% 0.7% 104.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.5% 0.5% 96.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -6.3% 211.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -3.6% 110.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricITWLECOSWK
Gross margin – 35.5% 31.9%
EBITDA margin – 19.5% 11.9%
Operating margin – 17.3% 8.6%
Pretax margin – 16.2% 5.6%
Net margin – 12.4% 4.1%
FCF margin – 11.0% 8.5%
Operating cash flow margin – 14.4% 10.2%
Return on equity 106.9% 37.0% 6.9%
Return on assets – 14.9% 3.0%
Return on invested capital – 22.6% 6.6%
Return on capital employed – 27.7% 8.0%
Asset turnover – 1.2x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.2x 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricITWLECOSWK
Debt / assets – 29.5% 23.7%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.0x 2.3x
Debt / FCF – 2.2x 3.7x
Liabilities / assets – 60.1% 55.4%
Equity / assets – 39.9% 44.6%
Interest coverage – – 2.8x
Current ratio 1.3x 1.9x 1.4x
Quick ratio – 1.0x 0.5x
Cash ratio – 0.3x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 7.74 2.48

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricITWLECOSWK
Dividend yield 2.4% 1.1% 3.4%
Net buyback yield – 1.8% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 2.9% 5.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.0% 81.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 33.7% 39.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.5% 1.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 6.3% 1.9%

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.

ConsensusITWLECOSWK
Forward P/E 25.9xFY2026 24.3xFY2026 17.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.67FY2026 $11.62FY2026 $5.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +24.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.3% +0.4% +5.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.46BFY2026 $4.84BFY2026 $16.13BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026 +6.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.4% +5.5% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersITWLECOSWK
Held by institutions 84.9% 81.3% 95.7%
Institutions holding 1,969 701 771
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +5.5% +5.3%
Institutions buying 846 297 417
Institutions selling 750 266 243
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.12 1.72

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.

ITWLECOSWK
ITW 1.00 0.61 0.62
LECO 0.61 1.00 0.56
SWK 0.62 0.56 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ITW, LECO and SWK?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $79.02B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $15.27B, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) $15.06B.

Which stock is cheaper, ITW, LECO and SWK?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.0x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 26.6x, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 24.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) is cheapest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.9x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 24.3x, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 17.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +11.1%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) +0.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has the highest net margin (Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 12.4%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 4.1%). On return on invested capital, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads (Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 22.6%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 6.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) returned the most: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +11.3%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +16.6%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) +37.9%. Over five years, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) compounded fastest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.0%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +15.0%/yr, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) -11.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) has the highest dividend yield: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 0.00%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 0.01%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 0.03%. Illinois Tool Works (ITW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.3%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 30.8%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 36.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ITW, LECO and SWK?

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