LXFR vs HLP vs WS Stock Comparison

Luxfer Holdings, Hongli and Worthington Steel Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LXFR Luxfer Holdings Plc
$17.25 -0.2% 1M +30.2% 1Y
Market cap
$461.61M
P/E
74.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$355.20M
Div. yield
2.26%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
7 wins
HLP Hongli Group Inc.
$4.19 +75.3% 1M +173.9% 1Y
Market cap
$307.71M
P/E
158.4x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Metal Fabrication Industrials
1 win
WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$42.40 +15.2% 1M +33.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.17B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
1.51%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Luxfer Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Luxfer Holdings 7, Worthington Steel 3, Hongli 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLXFRHLPWSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $461.61M $307.71M $2.17B WS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 74.5x 158.4x -55.4x LXFR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.4x — 11.1x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -11.8% — +69.1% WS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.7% — -0.7% LXFR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.2% — 0.2% LXFR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.2x — 19.9x LXFR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.26% — 1.51% LXFR
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +30.2% +173.9% +33.0% HLP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.0%/yr — — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.2% 119.3% 47.2% LXFR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 52/100 — 34/100 LXFR

Percentile Scorecard

LXFRHLPWS

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

AxisLXFRHLPWS
Valuation 57 #87 of 203 7 #189 of 203 61 #80 of 203
Growth 19 #152 of 188 – 33 #126 of 188
Profitability 39 #113 of 184 – 29 #131 of 184
Financial Health 68 #71 of 217 55 #98 of 217 11 #194 of 217
Shareholder Returns 77 #36 of 153 – 36 #99 of 153
Overall 52 – 34
  • LXFR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • HLP ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLXFRHLPWSSPY
1 month -0.2%+75.3%+15.2% +0.9%
3 months +1.1%+237.9%+18.8% +5.9%
6 months +21.1%+422.6%+16.5% +8.5%
Year to date +27.5%+302.9%+22.5% +13.3%
1 year +30.2%+173.9%+33.0% +12.4%
3 years +101.8%+88.7%— +88.1%
3 years, per year +26.4%+23.6%— +23.5%
5 years -14.2%—— +68.2%
5 years, per year -3.0%—— +11.0%

Risk

MeasureLXFRHLPWSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.2%119.3%47.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.1%130.9%49.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.960.091.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.911.460.70 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.3%-91.9%-51.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.6%0.0%-12.9% -0.9%
52-week high $19.08$4.19$48.69 $779.14
52-week low $11.51$0.43$28.10 $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.

MultipleLXFRHLPWS
P/E now vs peer median 74.5xmedian 25.4x 158.4xmedian 25.4x -55.4xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.9x 15.7xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.5xmedian 14.3x —median 14.3x 42.0xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.4xmedian 21.8x -701.0xmedian 21.8x 46.5xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.2x 5.3xmedian 2.2x 1.3xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 56.42median 1.41 —median 1.41 1.70median 1.41

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 monthsLXFRHLPWS
Revenue $355.20M – $5.30B
Gross profit $89.00M – $549.30M
Operating income $22.40M – $6.30M
Net income $6.20M – -$56.50M
Free cash flow $18.90M – $46.70M
R&D $5.60M – –
EPS (diluted) $0.23 – $-0.77
Cash & equivalents $19.90M $1.81M $248.20M
Total debt $57.70M $47.35M $2.20B
Shares (diluted) 27.30M 73.44M 50.00M
Enterprise value $407.11M $303.13M $2.26B

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
MetricLXFRHLPWS
P/E 74.5x 158.4x -55.4x
P/FCF 24.4x -701.0x 46.5x
P/Operating cash flow 15.4x – 10.8x
P/S 1.3x 15.7x 0.4x
P/B 2.1x 5.3x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 2.2x 5.8x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 15.5x – 42.0x
EV/EBIT 22.3x – 653.9x
EV/Revenue 1.4x – 0.8x
EV/FCF 26.4x – 88.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.6x – 20.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 56.42 – 1.70

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLXFRHLPWS
Revenue growth (1Y) -11.8% – 69.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.9% – 15.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.1% – 36.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.9% – 13.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 0.0% – -95.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -4.2% – -65.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -56.6% – -144.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 1.7% – -34.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -56.9% – -132.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 1.3% – -32.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -31.4% – 18.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.7% – -10.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -47.6% – 50.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.2% – -41.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLXFRHLPWS
Gross margin 25.1% – 10.4%
EBITDA margin 9.1% – 1.8%
Operating margin 6.3% – 0.1%
Pretax margin 5.2% – -0.2%
Net margin 1.7% – -0.7%
FCF margin 5.3% – 0.9%
Operating cash flow margin 8.4% – 3.8%
Return on equity 2.8% – -4.0%
Return on assets 1.6% – -1.4%
Return on invested capital 5.2% – 0.2%
Return on capital employed 7.3% – 0.3%
Asset turnover 0.9x – 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 4.8x – -3.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% – 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLXFRHLPWS
Debt / assets 15.1% 16.0% 36.5%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.2x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.2x – 19.9x
Debt / FCF 3.1x – 47.0x
Liabilities / assets 42.1% 19.9% 72.8%
Equity / assets 57.9% 80.1% 27.2%
Interest coverage 6.6x – 0.5x
Current ratio 2.5x 1.1x 1.8x
Quick ratio 1.1x 0.8x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.56 – 1.55

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLXFRHLPWS
Dividend yield 2.3% – 1.5%
Net buyback yield 0.6% – –
Shareholder yield 2.8% – 1.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – -57.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 70.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 2.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusLXFRHLPWS
Forward P/E 17.4xFY2026 – 11.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.99FY2026 – $3.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.8%FY2026 – +71.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +41.4% – +30.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $386.72MFY2026 – $10.90BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.2%FY2026 – +217.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.6% – +2.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLXFRHLPWS
Held by institutions 91.6% – 56.3%
Institutions holding 136 – 238
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.6% – +1.2%
Institutions buying 76 – 112
Institutions selling 41 – 68
Buyers to sellers 1.85 – 1.65

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.

LXFRHLPWS
LXFR 1.00 -0.14 0.35
HLP -0.14 1.00 0.07
WS 0.35 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LXFR, HLP and WS?

Worthington Steel (WS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) $461.61M, Hongli (HLP) $307.71M, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.17B.

Which stock is cheaper, LXFR, HLP and WS?

Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 74.5x, Hongli (HLP) 158.4x, Worthington Steel (WS) -55.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Worthington Steel (WS) is cheapest (Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 17.4x, Worthington Steel (WS) 11.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) -11.8%, Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) has the highest net margin (Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 1.7%, Worthington Steel (WS) -0.7%). On return on invested capital, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) leads (Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 5.2%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hongli (HLP) returned the most: Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) +30.2%, Hongli (HLP) +173.9%, Worthington Steel (WS) +33.0%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) has the highest dividend yield: Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 2.26%, Worthington Steel (WS) 1.51%. Hongli (HLP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) has been the steadiest (Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 33.2%, Hongli (HLP) 119.3%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, LXFR, HLP and WS?

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