LECO vs STKH vs ITW Stock Comparison

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Steakholder Foods and Illinois Tool Works 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
4 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

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

QuestionLECOSTKHITWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $15.29B $50.85K $78.58B ITW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.7x — 24.0x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.3x — 25.9x LECO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.1% — — –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.4% — — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 22.6% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.0x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.12% — 2.37% ITW
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +16.6% -89.4% +11.3% LECO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.0%/yr -83.1%/yr +4.0%/yr LECO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.8% 225.6% 21.3% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 — 49/100 LECO

Percentile Scorecard

LECOSTKHITW

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

AxisLECOSTKHITW
Valuation 36 #130 of 203 – 24 #154 of 203
Growth 44 #106 of 188 – 35 #123 of 188
Profitability 94 #12 of 183 – –
Financial Health 44 #121 of 217 74 #57 of 217 –
Shareholder Returns 54 #71 of 153 – 87 #21 of 153
Overall 54 – 49
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • STKH ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLECOSTKHITWSPY
1 month +3.9%-76.2%+0.7% -0.2%
3 months +5.7%-88.6%-6.5% +3.9%
6 months +8.6%-76.6%+2.8% +8.2%
Year to date +17.8%-82.3%+12.0% +12.9%
1 year +16.6%-89.4%+11.3% +12.3%
3 years +63.5%-99.9%+23.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +17.8%-88.6%+7.3% +23.3%
5 years +101.1%-100.0%+21.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +15.0%-83.1%+4.0% +10.9%
10 years +331.4%—+143.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +15.7%—+9.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureLECOSTKHITWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.8%225.6%21.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.2%172.2%20.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.181.650.47 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.54-0.400.53 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.3%-100.0%-28.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.5%-90.5%-7.9% -1.2%
52-week high $298.88$4.30$299.60 $779.14
52-week low $220.64$0.40$241.07 $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.

MultipleLECOSTKHITW
P/E now vs peer median 26.7xmedian 25.2x —median 25.2x 24.0xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 1.9x —median 1.9x 4.6xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.8xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x —median 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.9xmedian 21.7x —median 21.7x 26.0xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 9.8xmedian 2.3x 0.0xmedian 2.3x 25.0xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 3.82median 1.32 —median 1.32 —median 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 monthsLECOSTKHITW
Revenue $4.64B – –
Gross profit $1.65B – –
Operating income $802.52M – –
Net income $575.27M – $3.23B
Free cash flow $511.89M – –
EPS (diluted) $10.48 – –
Cash & equivalents $283.24M $1.06M $809.00M
Total debt $1.15B – –
Shares (diluted) 54.87M 124.02K 287.00M
Enterprise value $14.16B -$6.85M $78.59B

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
MetricLECOSTKHITW
P/E 26.7x – 24.0x
P/FCF 29.9x – 26.0x
P/Operating cash flow 22.9x – 24.1x
P/S 3.3x – 4.6x
P/B 9.8x 0.0x 25.0x
P/Tangible book 9.8x 0.0x 30.2x
EV/EBITDA 17.8x – –
EV/EBIT 20.1x – –
EV/Revenue 3.5x – –
EV/FCF 31.6x – –
EV/Operating cash flow 24.2x – 24.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.82 – –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLECOSTKHITW
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.1% – –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.5% – –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.7% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.5% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.9% – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.0% – –
Net income growth (1Y) 9.6% – 6.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.9% – 0.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 11.0% – –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.0% – –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 0.7% – -0.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.5% – -0.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -6.3% – –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.6% – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLECOSTKHITW
Gross margin 35.5% – –
EBITDA margin 19.5% – –
Operating margin 17.3% – –
Pretax margin 16.2% – –
Net margin 12.4% – –
FCF margin 11.0% – –
Operating cash flow margin 14.4% – –
Return on equity 37.0% – 106.9%
Return on assets 14.9% – –
Return on invested capital 22.6% – –
Return on capital employed 27.7% – –
Asset turnover 1.2x – –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x – 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLECOSTKHITW
Debt / assets 29.5% – –
Debt / equity 0.7x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.0x – –
Debt / FCF 2.2x – –
Liabilities / assets 60.1% 27.9% –
Equity / assets 39.9% 72.1% –
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 1.9x 1.8x 1.3x
Quick ratio 1.0x 1.2x –
Cash ratio 0.3x 1.2x –
Altman Z-score 7.74 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLECOSTKHITW
Dividend yield 1.1% – 2.4%
Net buyback yield 1.8% – –
Shareholder yield 2.9% – 2.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 30.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 33.7% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.5% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 6.3% – –

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.

ConsensusLECOSTKHITW
Forward P/E 24.3xFY2026 – 25.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.62FY2026 $-550.39FY2026 $10.67FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.7%FY2026 – +1.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +0.4% – +19.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.84BFY2026 $57.45MFY2025 $16.46BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.5%FY2026 +574,390.0%FY2025 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.5% -42.2% +11.4%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

LECOSTKHITW
LECO 1.00 0.08 0.61
STKH 0.08 1.00 0.07
ITW 0.61 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LECO, STKH and ITW?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $15.29B, Steakholder Foods (STKH) $50.85K, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $78.58B.

Which stock is cheaper, LECO, STKH and ITW?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 26.7x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is cheapest (Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 24.3x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) returned the most: Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +16.6%, Steakholder Foods (STKH) -89.4%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +11.3%. Over five years, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) compounded fastest (Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +15.0%/yr, Steakholder Foods (STKH) -83.1%/yr, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has the highest dividend yield: Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 1.12%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 2.37%. Steakholder Foods (STKH) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 30.8%, Steakholder Foods (STKH) 225.6%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.