MEC vs WS vs MLI Stock Comparison

Mayville Engineering Company, Worthington Steel and Mueller Industries Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$42.13 +18.3% 1M +32.4% 1Y
Market cap
$2.16B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
1.52%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
5 wins
MLI Mueller Industries Inc
$55.79 -8.2% 1M -46.7% 1Y
Market cap
$12.16B
P/E
14.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.00B
Div. yield
0.83%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Mueller Industries leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Mueller Industries 6, Worthington Steel 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMECWSMLILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $386.08M $2.16B $12.16B MLI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -19.9x -55.0x 14.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 63.1x 11.0x 13.8x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.8% +69.1% +20.8% WS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.0% -0.7% 17.3% MLI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.8% 0.2% 22.7% MLI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.9x 19.9x -1.3x MLI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.52% 0.83% WS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -10.9% +32.4% -46.7% WS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.1%/yr — +16.2%/yr MLI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 55.2% 47.2% 131.8% WS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 28/100 34/100 86/100 MLI

Percentile Scorecard

MECWSMLI

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

AxisMECWSMLI
Valuation 47 #109 of 203 60 #81 of 203 82 #37 of 203
Growth 11 #167 of 188 34 #125 of 188 68 #60 of 188
Profitability 23 #141 of 183 29 #131 of 183 96 #8 of 183
Financial Health 32 #147 of 216 11 #193 of 216 97 #7 of 216
Shareholder Returns – 38 #94 of 152 86 #22 of 152
Overall 28 34 86
  • MEC ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MLI ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMECWSMLISPY
1 month -7.4%+18.3%-8.2% +0.7%
3 months -41.5%+20.0%-16.6% +3.7%
6 months -33.6%+9.6%-58.8% +7.1%
Year to date -19.1%+21.7%-51.4% +12.8%
1 year -10.9%+32.4%-46.7% +11.9%
3 years +33.4%—+49.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +10.1%—+14.2% +22.8%
5 years -14.8%—+112.0% +67.6%
5 years, per year -3.1%—+16.2% +10.9%
10 years ——+272.2% +262.0%
10 years, per year ——+14.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMECWSMLISPY
Volatility, 1Y 55.2%47.2%131.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 53.1%49.6%165.1% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.571.640.70 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.200.69-0.35 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -66.7%-51.5%-61.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -59.7%-13.5%-60.4% -1.2%
52-week high $37.54$48.69$140.83 $779.14
52-week low $12.73$28.10$54.11 $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.

MultipleMECWSMLI
P/E now vs peer median -19.9xmedian 25.8x -55.0xmedian 25.8x 14.0xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x 2.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 14.6x 41.9xmedian 14.6x 9.5xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median -84.4xmedian 22.2x 46.2xmedian 22.2x 17.6xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 2.2x 1.3xmedian 2.2x 3.4xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.42median 1.45 1.69median 1.45 1.10median 1.45

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 monthsMECWSMLI
Revenue $586.34M $5.30B $5.00B
Gross profit $53.52M $549.30M $1.36B
Operating income -$12.80M $6.30M $1.08B
Net income -$17.30M -$56.50M $871.57M
Free cash flow -$4.57M $46.70M $689.59M
EPS (diluted) $-0.76 $-0.77 $3.92
Cash & equivalents $2.20M $248.20M $1.45B
Total debt $752.49M $2.20B $5.24M
Shares (diluted) 22.77M 50.00M 220.12M
Enterprise value $379.09M $2.25B $6.50B

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
MetricMECWSMLI
P/E -19.9x -55.0x 14.0x
P/FCF -84.4x 46.2x 17.6x
P/Operating cash flow 27.7x 10.7x 15.8x
P/S 0.7x 0.4x 2.4x
P/B 1.2x 1.3x 3.4x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 1.4x 3.8x
EV/EBITDA 16.1x 41.9x 9.5x
EV/EBIT -39.8x 651.7x 9.9x
EV/Revenue 0.9x 0.8x 2.1x
EV/FCF -111.4x 87.9x 15.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 36.6x 20.4x 13.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.42 1.69 1.10

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMECWSMLI
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.8% 69.1% 20.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.4% 15.5% 11.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -5.8% 36.2% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.2% 13.4% 9.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -142.1% -95.9% 12.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -37.8% -65.2% 9.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -196.8% -144.9% 14.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -49.1% -34.5% 11.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -188.0% -132.7% 16.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -47.4% -32.5% 12.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -82.4% 18.9% 2.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -23.3% -10.4% 3.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -106.7% 50.2% 1.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.0% -41.1% 1.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMECWSMLI
Gross margin 9.1% 10.4% 27.3%
EBITDA margin 5.4% 1.8% 22.5%
Operating margin -2.2% 0.1% 21.5%
Pretax margin -4.7% -0.2% 22.8%
Net margin -3.0% -0.7% 17.3%
FCF margin -0.8% 0.9% 13.8%
Operating cash flow margin 2.4% 3.8% 15.4%
Return on equity -6.2% -4.0% 24.5%
Return on assets -3.0% -1.4% 20.4%
Return on invested capital -1.8% 0.2% 22.7%
Return on capital employed -2.6% 0.3% 29.7%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.3x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.8x -3.6x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.2% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMECWSMLI
Debt / assets 21.4% 36.5% 0.1%
Debt / equity 0.4x 1.3x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.9x 19.9x -1.3x
Debt / FCF -27.5x 47.0x 0.0x
Liabilities / assets 44.7% 72.8% 17.6%
Equity / assets 55.3% 27.2% 82.4%
Interest coverage -0.9x 0.5x 3,260x
Current ratio 1.7x 1.8x 4.4x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.8x 3.4x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.1x 2.3x
Altman Z-score 2.04 1.55 13.69

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMECWSMLI
Dividend yield – 1.5% 0.8%
Net buyback yield – – 2.3%
Shareholder yield – 1.5% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -57.9% 16.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 70.0% 20.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 2.2% 35.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 30.2%

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.

ConsensusMECWSMLI
Forward P/E 63.1xFY2026 11.0xFY2026 13.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.24FY2026 $3.82FY2026 $4.03FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -22.6%FY2026 +71.3%FY2026 +17.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +354.2% +30.4% +10.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $666.72MFY2026 $10.90BFY2026 $5.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +22.0%FY2026 +217.0%FY2026 +20.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.5% +2.4% +10.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMECWSMLI
Held by institutions 83.1% 56.3% 95.3%
Institutions holding 157 239 739
Change in shares held, QoQ +47.1% +1.2% +6.5%
Institutions buying 99 113 419
Institutions selling 40 68 227
Buyers to sellers 2.48 1.66 1.85

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.

MECWSMLI
MEC 1.00 0.33 0.13
WS 0.33 1.00 0.19
MLI 0.13 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MEC, WS and MLI?

Mueller Industries (MLI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) $386.08M, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.16B, Mueller Industries (MLI) $12.16B.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) +11.8%, Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%, Mueller Industries (MLI) +20.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mueller Industries (MLI) has the highest net margin (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -3.0%, Worthington Steel (WS) -0.7%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 17.3%). On return on invested capital, Mueller Industries (MLI) leads (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -1.8%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.2%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 22.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Worthington Steel (WS) returned the most: Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -10.9%, Worthington Steel (WS) +32.4%, Mueller Industries (MLI) -46.7%. Over five years, Mueller Industries (MLI) compounded fastest (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) -3.1%/yr, Mueller Industries (MLI) +16.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Worthington Steel (WS) has the highest dividend yield: Worthington Steel (WS) 1.52%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 0.83%. Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Worthington Steel (WS) has been the steadiest (Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) 55.2%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.2%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 131.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 6. 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.