ITW vs NDSN vs PPG Stock Comparison

Illinois Tool Works, Nordson and Ppg Industries Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.93 +0.7% 1M +11.3% 1Y
Market cap
$78.38B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins
NDSN Nordson Corp
$324.30 -0.5% 1M +36.1% 1Y
Market cap
$18.01B
P/E
32.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins
PPG Ppg Industries Inc
$113.55 +5.6% 1M +7.7% 1Y
Market cap
$26.79B
P/E
17.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.69B
Div. yield
0.02%
Paints and Coatings Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Ppg Industries leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Ppg Industries 4, 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.

QuestionITWNDSNPPGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $78.38B $18.01B $26.79B ITW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.0x 32.4x 17.1x PPG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.9x 29.1x 13.9x PPG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +7.0% +6.4% NDSN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 18.6% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 13.1% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.7x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.02% PPG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.3% +36.1% +7.7% NDSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.0%/yr +5.3%/yr -7.0%/yr NDSN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 22.2% 30.7% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 57/100 70/100 PPG

Percentile Scorecard

ITWNDSNPPG

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

AxisITWNDSNPPG
Valuation 24 #154 of 203 30 #142 of 203 68 #31 of 94
Growth 35 #123 of 188 55 #85 of 188 74 #24 of 91
Profitability – 96 #8 of 183 –
Financial Health – 54 #101 of 217 –
Shareholder Returns 87 #21 of 153 51 #76 of 153 68 #23 of 70
Overall 49 57 70
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • NDSN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • PPG ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodITWNDSNPPGSPY
1 month +0.7%-0.5%+5.6% -0.2%
3 months -6.5%+7.2%-4.6% +3.9%
6 months +2.8%+15.1%+5.5% +8.2%
Year to date +12.0%+34.9%+10.8% +12.9%
1 year +11.3%+36.1%+7.7% +12.3%
3 years +23.6%+52.9%-5.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +7.3%+15.2%-2.0% +23.3%
5 years +21.8%+29.2%-30.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year +4.0%+5.3%-7.0% +10.9%
10 years +143.5%+225.5%+21.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +9.3%+12.5%+2.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureITWNDSNPPGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%22.2%30.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.7%21.2%31.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.470.881.05 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.531.620.25 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.9%-39.9%-47.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-3.1%-13.7% -1.2%
52-week high $299.60$334.70$131.56 $779.14
52-week low $241.07$226.69$94.34 $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.

MultipleITWNDSNPPG
P/E now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 25.2x 32.5xmedian 25.2x 16.1xmedian 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 1.9x 6.1xmedian 1.9x 1.5xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x 21.2xmedian 14.0x —median 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 21.7x 24.9xmedian 21.7x 16.7xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 25.0xmedian 2.3x 5.5xmedian 2.3x —median 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.32 7.39median 1.32 2.93median 1.66

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 monthsITWNDSNPPG
Revenue – $2.98B $16.69B
Gross profit – $1.65B –
Operating income – $800.96M –
Net income $3.23B $555.18M –
Free cash flow – $724.01M –
R&D – – $458.00M
EPS (diluted) – $9.91 $7.01
Cash & equivalents $809.00M $113.43M $1.59B
Total debt – $1.73B –
Shares (diluted) 287.00M 56.03M 223.90M
Enterprise value $78.38B $17.57B $26.79B

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
MetricITWNDSNPPG
P/E 24.0x 32.5x 16.1x
P/FCF 26.0x 24.9x 16.7x
P/Operating cash flow 24.1x 23.4x 12.3x
P/S 4.6x 6.1x 1.5x
P/B 25.0x 5.5x –
P/Tangible book 30.2x 6.8x –
EV/EBITDA – 21.2x –
EV/EBIT – 24.6x –
EV/Revenue – 6.6x 1.5x
EV/FCF – 27.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 24.1x 25.4x 12.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 7.39 2.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricITWNDSNPPG
Revenue growth (1Y) – 7.0% 6.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 4.7% 1.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 8.4% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 5.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 18.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 6.4% –
Net income growth (1Y) 6.7% 22.0% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.9% 3.5% –
EPS growth (1Y) – 23.5% 59.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 4.4% 5.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.5% 26.2% 46.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.5% 5.9% -1.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 33.3% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 5.6% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricITWNDSNPPG
Gross margin – 55.3% –
EBITDA margin – 31.2% –
Operating margin – 26.9% –
Pretax margin – 22.6% –
Net margin – 18.6% –
FCF margin – 24.3% –
Operating cash flow margin – 26.0% 12.3%
Return on equity 106.9% 17.2% –
Return on assets – 9.3% –
Return on invested capital – 13.1% –
Return on capital employed – 15.3% –
Asset turnover – 0.5x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.4x –
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricITWNDSNPPG
Debt / assets – 29.1% –
Debt / equity – 0.5x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.7x –
Debt / FCF – 2.4x –
Liabilities / assets – 45.0% –
Equity / assets – 55.0% –
Interest coverage – 8.8x –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.8x 1.6x
Quick ratio – 1.0x –
Cash ratio – 0.2x –
Altman Z-score – 6.26 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricITWNDSNPPG
Dividend yield 2.4% 1.0% 2.5%
Net buyback yield – 1.1% –
Shareholder yield 2.4% 2.1% 2.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 33.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 25.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.3% 2.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 7.2% 2.9%

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.

ConsensusITWNDSNPPG
Forward P/E 25.9xFY2026 29.1xFY2026 13.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.67FY2026 $11.14FY2026 $8.18FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026 +7.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.3% +21.5% +10.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.46BFY2026 $3.19BFY2026 $17.59BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026 +10.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.4% +5.7% -6.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersITWNDSNPPG
Held by institutions 84.9% 76.0% 90.3%
Institutions holding 1,969 755 1,095
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +3.1% +0.1%
Institutions buying 846 389 519
Institutions selling 750 240 356
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.62 1.46

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.

ITWNDSNPPG
ITW 1.00 0.55 0.61
NDSN 0.55 1.00 0.54
PPG 0.61 0.54 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ITW, NDSN and PPG?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $78.38B, Nordson (NDSN) $18.01B, Ppg Industries (PPG) $26.79B.

Which stock is cheaper, ITW, NDSN and PPG?

Ppg Industries (PPG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.0x, Nordson (NDSN) 32.4x, Ppg Industries (PPG) 17.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ppg Industries (PPG) is cheapest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.9x, Nordson (NDSN) 29.1x, Ppg Industries (PPG) 13.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nordson (NDSN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%, Ppg Industries (PPG) +6.4%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nordson (NDSN) returned the most: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +11.3%, Nordson (NDSN) +36.1%, Ppg Industries (PPG) +7.7%. Over five years, Nordson (NDSN) compounded fastest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.0%/yr, Nordson (NDSN) +5.3%/yr, Ppg Industries (PPG) -7.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Ppg Industries (PPG) has the highest dividend yield: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 0.00%, Nordson (NDSN) 0.01%, Ppg Industries (PPG) 0.02%. 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%, Nordson (NDSN) 22.2%, Ppg Industries (PPG) 30.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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