MEC vs MLI vs IIIN Stock Comparison

Mayville Engineering Company, Mueller Industries and Insteel Industries Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MLI Mueller Industries Inc
$52.45 -16.9% 1M -51.4% 1Y
Market cap
$11.43B
P/E
13.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.00B
Div. yield
0.89%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
9 wins
IIIN Insteel Industries Inc
$27.00 -10.5% 1M -15.7% 1Y
Market cap
$522.67M
P/E
17.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$739.51M
Div. yield
4.15%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mueller Industries leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Mueller Industries 9, Insteel Industries 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMECMLIIIINLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $333.04M $11.43B $522.67M MLI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -23.5x 13.2x 17.8x MLI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 54.4x 13.0x 13.2x MLI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.8% +20.8% +14.2% MLI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -2.3% 17.3% 4.0% MLI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.2% 22.7% — MLI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.6x -1.3x — MLI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.89% 4.15% IIIN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -19.0% -51.4% -15.7% IIIN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.4%/yr +13.2%/yr -8.8%/yr MLI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 58.1% 131.9% 42.1% IIIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 31/100 85/100 56/100 MLI

Percentile Scorecard

MECMLIIIIN

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

AxisMECMLIIIIN
Valuation 53 #97 of 204 81 #40 of 204 90 #21 of 204
Growth 7 #177 of 191 68 #61 of 191 31 #132 of 191
Profitability 21 #149 of 189 95 #10 of 189 45 #105 of 189
Financial Health 31 #153 of 221 97 #7 of 221 89 #25 of 221
Shareholder Returns 44 #90 of 159 84 #26 of 159 26 #118 of 159
Overall 31 85 56
  • MEC ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • MLI ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • IIIN ranked among 223 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMECMLIIIINSPY
1 month -20.7%-16.9%-10.5% -5.9%
3 months -47.5%-24.5%-16.5% -4.6%
6 months -49.7%-61.9%-0.4% +0.2%
Year to date -30.2%-54.3%-14.7% +7.5%
1 year -19.0%-51.4%-15.7% +8.2%
3 years +15.7%+34.1%-10.4% +68.3%
3 years, per year +5.0%+10.3%-3.6% +19.0%
5 years -24.1%+85.9%-37.0% +56.5%
5 years, per year -5.4%+13.2%-8.8% +9.4%
10 years —+249.0%+1.8% +251.5%
10 years, per year —+13.3%+0.2% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureMECMLIIIINSPY
Volatility, 1Y 58.1%131.9%42.1% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 58.0%163.9%52.0% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.900.741.05 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.33-0.39-0.37 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -66.1%-62.8%-49.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -65.2%-62.8%-29.2% -5.9%
52-week high $37.54$140.83$38.11 $779.14
52-week low $12.73$52.45$24.48 $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.

MultipleMECMLIIIIN
P/E now vs peer median -23.5xmedian 23.4x 13.2xmedian 23.4x 17.8xmedian 23.4x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 1.7x 2.3xmedian 1.7x 0.7xmedian 1.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.8xmedian 13.4x 8.8xmedian 13.4x 8.8xmedian 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -49.1xmedian 21.9x 16.6xmedian 21.9x 21.0xmedian 21.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 2.1x 3.2xmedian 2.1x 1.4xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 0.46median 1.02 1.03median 1.02 -5.99median 1.02

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 monthsMECMLIIIIN
Revenue $612.39M $5.00B $739.51M
Gross profit $56.34M $1.36B $75.68M
Operating income -$8.51M $1.08B $37.57M
Net income -$14.20M $871.57M $29.55M
Free cash flow -$6.78M $689.59M $24.84M
EPS (diluted) $-0.55 $3.92 $1.51
Cash & equivalents $1.51M $1.45B $37.48M
Total debt $130.17M $5.24M –
Shares (diluted) 25.83M 220.12M 19.52M
Enterprise value $325.76M $5.78B $431.56M

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
MetricMECMLIIIIN
P/E -23.5x 13.2x 17.8x
P/FCF -49.1x 16.6x 21.0x
P/Operating cash flow 20.3x 14.8x 14.3x
P/S 0.5x 2.3x 0.7x
P/B 1.0x 3.2x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 3.6x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 12.8x 8.8x 8.8x
EV/EBIT -54.3x 9.3x 12.9x
EV/Revenue 0.8x 2.0x 0.7x
EV/FCF -68.1x 14.4x 19.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 28.2x 12.9x 13.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.46 1.03 -5.99

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMECMLIIIIN
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.8% 20.8% 14.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.5% 11.9% 4.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 1.2% 11.7% -19.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.4% 9.2% 5.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -134.4% 12.4% -27.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -35.4% 9.9% 2.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -216.2% 14.9% -28.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -55.7% 11.4% -3.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -193.1% 16.2% -27.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -50.6% 12.8% -3.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -74.1% 2.1% 34.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -20.7% 3.0% -36.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -112.9% 1.9% 31.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -60.4% 1.6% -39.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMECMLIIIIN
Gross margin 9.2% 27.3% 10.2%
EBITDA margin 5.9% 22.5% 7.5%
Operating margin -1.4% 21.5% 5.1%
Pretax margin -3.7% 22.8% 5.2%
Net margin -2.3% 17.3% 4.0%
FCF margin -1.1% 13.8% 3.4%
Operating cash flow margin 2.7% 15.4% 5.0%
Return on equity -4.4% 24.5% 7.9%
Return on assets -2.4% 20.4% 6.2%
Return on invested capital -1.2% 22.7% –
Return on capital employed -1.7% 29.7% 9.4%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.2x 1.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -1.2x 0.9x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.6% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMECMLIIIIN
Debt / assets 21.5% 0.1% –
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.0x –
Net debt / EBITDA 3.6x -1.3x –
Debt / FCF -19.2x 0.0x –
Liabilities / assets 46.0% 17.6% 21.0%
Equity / assets 54.0% 82.4% 79.0%
Interest coverage -0.6x 3,260x 596.3x
Current ratio 1.7x 4.4x 3.7x
Quick ratio 0.9x 3.4x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.0x 2.3x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 1.93 13.11 6.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMECMLIIIIN
Dividend yield – 0.9% 4.1%
Net buyback yield 0.9% 2.4% 0.6%
Shareholder yield 0.9% 3.3% 4.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 16.2% 73.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 20.5% 87.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 35.7% -0.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 30.2% -19.2%

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.

ConsensusMECMLIIIIN
Forward P/E 54.4xFY2026 13.0xFY2026 13.2xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $0.24FY2026 $4.03FY2026 $2.05FY2027
EPS growth, next FY -22.6%FY2026 +17.5%FY2026 +35.8%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +354.2% +10.2% +7.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $666.72MFY2026 $5.04BFY2026 $759.46MFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +22.0%FY2026 +20.5%FY2026 +2.7%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +4.5% +10.9% +4.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMECMLIIIIN
Held by institutions 83.1% 95.3% 82.1%
Institutions holding 158 741 187
Change in shares held, QoQ +47.1% +6.5% +0.9%
Institutions buying 100 419 122
Institutions selling 40 228 48
Buyers to sellers 2.50 1.84 2.54

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.

MECMLIIIIN
MEC 1.00 0.14 0.31
MLI 0.14 1.00 0.07
IIIN 0.31 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MEC, MLI and IIIN?

Mueller Industries (MLI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) $333.04M, Mueller Industries (MLI) $11.43B, Insteel Industries (IIIN) $522.67M.

Which stock is cheaper, MEC, MLI and IIIN?

Mueller Industries (MLI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -23.5x, Mueller Industries (MLI) 13.2x, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 17.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Mueller Industries (MLI) is cheapest (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) 54.4x, Mueller Industries (MLI) 13.0x, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 13.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mueller Industries (MLI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) +14.8%, Mueller Industries (MLI) +20.8%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) +14.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mueller Industries (MLI) has the highest net margin (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -2.3%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 17.3%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 4.0%). On return on invested capital, Mueller Industries (MLI) leads (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -1.2%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 22.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Insteel Industries (IIIN) returned the most: Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -19.0%, Mueller Industries (MLI) -51.4%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) -15.7%. Over five years, Mueller Industries (MLI) compounded fastest (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -5.4%/yr, Mueller Industries (MLI) +13.2%/yr, Insteel Industries (IIIN) -8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Insteel Industries (IIIN) has the highest dividend yield: Mueller Industries (MLI) 0.89%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 4.15%. Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Insteel Industries (IIIN) has been the steadiest (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) 58.1%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 131.9%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 42.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MEC, MLI and IIIN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mueller Industries (MLI) leads on 9. 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.