ITW vs ROK vs NDSN Stock Comparison

Illinois Tool Works, Rockwell Automation and Nordson Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.75 +0.8% 1M +7.1% 1Y
Market cap
$79.10B
P/E
24.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.47B
Div. yield
0.02%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
7 wins
ROK Rockwell Automation, Inc
$426.18 -1.6% 1M +19.3% 1Y
Market cap
$47.75B
P/E
39.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.97B
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins
NDSN Nordson Corp
$318.84 -0.8% 1M +35.1% 1Y
Market cap
$17.94B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionITWROKNDSNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $79.10B $47.75B $17.94B ITW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.8x 39.8x 32.3x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.8x 34.1x 28.6x ITW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.3% +11.3% +7.0% ROK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 19.4% 13.4% 18.6% ITW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 27.1% 21.0% 13.1% ITW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 1.3x 1.7x ROK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.01% ITW
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +7.1% +19.3% +35.1% NDSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.2%/yr +6.1%/yr +4.7%/yr ROK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.8% 31.3% 22.2% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 53/100 56/100 NDSN

Percentile Scorecard

ITWROKNDSN

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

AxisITWROKNDSN
Valuation 24 #154 of 203 15 #173 of 203 28 #147 of 203
Growth 33 #127 of 188 52 #91 of 188 57 #82 of 188
Profitability 100 #2 of 187 94 #12 of 187 96 #9 of 187
Financial Health 23 #172 of 222 32 #152 of 222 53 #106 of 222
Shareholder Returns 60 #62 of 153 74 #41 of 153 49 #78 of 153
Overall 48 53 56
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ROK 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

PeriodITWROKNDSNSPY
1 month +0.8%-1.6%-0.8% -1.0%
3 months -2.6%-7.8%+7.8% +2.9%
6 months +2.4%+6.2%+12.9% +6.4%
Year to date +12.0%+9.5%+32.6% +11.4%
1 year +7.1%+19.3%+35.1% +13.1%
3 years +23.6%+60.3%+49.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +7.3%+17.0%+14.2% +21.5%
5 years +22.8%+34.7%+25.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year +4.2%+6.1%+4.7% +10.9%
10 years +143.9%+246.5%+217.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +9.3%+13.2%+12.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureITWROKNDSNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.8%31.3%22.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.8%31.7%21.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.451.390.87 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.330.621.58 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.9%-45.6%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.0%-13.9%-4.7% -2.5%
52-week high $299.60$495.08$334.70 $779.14
52-week low $241.07$348.51$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.

MultipleITWROKNDSN
P/E now vs peer median 24.7xmedian 25.9x 39.4xmedian 25.9x 32.0xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 1.9x 5.3xmedian 1.9x 6.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.3xmedian 13.7x 23.9xmedian 13.7x 20.9xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.9xmedian 21.1x 31.5xmedian 21.1x 24.5xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 27.1xmedian 2.3x 13.5xmedian 2.3x 5.4xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 8.36median 1.19 -8.98median 1.19 7.27median 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 monthsITWROKNDSN
Revenue $16.47B $8.97B $2.98B
Gross profit $7.27B $4.41B $1.65B
Operating income $4.36B $1.77B $800.96M
Net income $3.19B $1.20B $555.18M
Free cash flow $2.92B $1.50B $724.01M
R&D – $716.00M –
EPS (diluted) $11.13 $10.76 $9.91
Cash & equivalents $839.00M $479.00M $113.43M
Total debt $9.69B $13.81B $1.73B
Shares (diluted) 287.00M 111.60M 56.03M
Enterprise value $75.66B $45.94B $17.50B

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
MetricITWROKNDSN
P/E 24.7x 39.4x 32.0x
P/FCF 26.9x 31.5x 24.5x
P/Operating cash flow 23.6x 27.3x 23.0x
P/S 4.8x 5.3x 6.0x
P/B 27.1x 13.5x 5.4x
P/Tangible book 33.6x 17.0x 6.7x
EV/EBITDA 18.3x 23.9x 20.9x
EV/EBIT 20.0x 28.3x 24.2x
EV/Revenue 5.3x 5.6x 6.5x
EV/FCF 29.9x 33.3x 26.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.2x 28.9x 25.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 8.36 -8.98 7.27

Growth

14 metrics
MetricITWROKNDSN
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.3% 11.3% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.8% 1.3% 4.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.3% 1.9% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 7.5% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 6.4% -7.1% 18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.4% 2.9% 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -5.1% 23.8% 22.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 1.0% -5.5% 3.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -3.1% 25.2% 23.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.0% -4.4% 4.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.8% 13.8% 26.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 22.8% 5.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 7.2% 13.9% 33.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 23.6% 5.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricITWROKNDSN
Gross margin 44.2% 49.1% 55.3%
EBITDA margin 28.9% 23.3% 31.2%
Operating margin 26.5% 19.7% 26.9%
Pretax margin 25.0% 14.7% 22.6%
Net margin 19.4% 13.4% 18.6%
FCF margin 17.7% 16.8% 24.3%
Operating cash flow margin 20.2% 19.3% 26.0%
Return on equity 104.3% 30.9% 17.2%
Return on assets 19.5% 9.8% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 27.1% 21.0% 13.1%
Return on capital employed 41.9% 23.6% 15.3%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.4x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 1.0% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricITWROKNDSN
Debt / assets 58.8% 29.4% 29.1%
Debt / equity 3.3x 0.9x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 1.3x 1.7x
Debt / FCF 3.3x 2.2x 2.4x
Liabilities / assets 82.4% 68.5% 45.0%
Equity / assets 17.6% 31.5% 55.0%
Interest coverage 14.5x 12.8x 8.8x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.1x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.7x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 8.00 5.85 6.19

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricITWROKNDSN
Dividend yield 2.4% 1.3% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 2.3% 1.5% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 4.7% 2.8% 2.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 57.4% – 33.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 62.8% – 25.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 5.5% – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 5.1% – 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.

ConsensusITWROKNDSN
Forward P/E 25.8xFY2026 34.1xFY2026 28.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.67FY2026 $12.50FY2026 $11.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +18.7%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.3% +12.3% +21.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.46BFY2026 $8.50BFY2026 $3.19BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +1.9%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.4% +19.4% +5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersITWROKNDSN
Held by institutions 84.9% 89.2% 76.0%
Institutions holding 1,969 1,540 755
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +3.5% +3.1%
Institutions buying 846 805 389
Institutions selling 750 437 240
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.84 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.

ITWROKNDSN
ITW 1.00 0.37 0.55
ROK 0.37 1.00 0.52
NDSN 0.55 0.52 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ITW, ROK and NDSN?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $79.10B, Rockwell Automation (ROK) $47.75B, Nordson (NDSN) $17.94B.

Which stock is cheaper, ITW, ROK and NDSN?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.8x, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 39.8x, Nordson (NDSN) 32.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is cheapest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.8x, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 34.1x, Nordson (NDSN) 28.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Rockwell Automation (ROK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.3%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +11.3%, Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has the highest net margin (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 19.4%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 13.4%, Nordson (NDSN) 18.6%). On return on invested capital, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) leads (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 27.1%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 21.0%, Nordson (NDSN) 13.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nordson (NDSN) returned the most: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +7.1%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +19.3%, Nordson (NDSN) +35.1%. Over five years, Rockwell Automation (ROK) compounded fastest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.2%/yr, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +6.1%/yr, Nordson (NDSN) +4.7%/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%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 0.00%, Nordson (NDSN) 0.01%. Rockwell Automation (ROK) 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) 21.8%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 31.3%, Nordson (NDSN) 22.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ITW, ROK 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, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 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.