MKC vs UL vs LW Stock Comparison

Mccormick, Unilever and Lamb Weston Holdings Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MKC Mccormick & Co Inc
$48.00 +0.1% 1M -28.2% 1Y
Market cap
$12.79B
P/E
8.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.69B
Div. yield
0.04%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
7 wins
UL Unilever Plc
$65.61 +4.9% 1M -6.9% 1Y
Market cap
$142.37B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$64.28B
Div. yield
–
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
4 wins
LW Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.
$53.64 +23.0% 1M -19.2% 1Y
Market cap
$7.37B
P/E
28.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.62B
Div. yield
0.03%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mccormick leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Mccormick 7, Unilever 4, Lamb Weston Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMKCULLWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.79B $142.37B $7.37B UL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 8.6x — 28.9x MKC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.4x 19.3x 17.5x MKC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +13.2% -2.6% +2.6% MKC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 19.4% — 3.8% MKC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.0% — 6.4% LW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.6x — 4.1x MKC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.04% 0.00% 0.03% MKC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -28.2% -6.9% -19.2% UL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.8%/yr +1.7%/yr -1.4%/yr UL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.4% 24.9% 45.6% UL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 72/100 19/100 47/100 MKC

Percentile Scorecard

MKCULLW

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

AxisMKCULLW
Valuation 61 #18 of 45 0 #45 of 45 52 #22 of 45
Growth 83 #8 of 42 – 37 #27 of 42
Profitability 92 #4 of 40 – 72 #12 of 40
Financial Health 52 #23 of 47 41 #28 of 47 35 #31 of 47
Shareholder Returns 70 #10 of 31 17 #26 of 31 40 #19 of 31
Overall 72 19 47
  • MKC ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • UL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • LW ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMKCULLWSPY
1 month +0.1%+4.9%+23.0% -0.8%
3 months -5.2%+6.9%+0.9% +3.5%
6 months -4.8%+14.1%+23.8% +7.0%
Year to date -29.5%+0.3%+28.0% +12.2%
1 year -28.2%-6.9%-19.2% +13.0%
3 years -23.8%+26.1%-39.6% +86.3%
3 years, per year -8.7%+8.0%-15.5% +23.1%
5 years -40.4%+8.9%-6.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year -9.8%+1.7%-1.4% +11.0%
10 years +0.6%+39.6%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +0.1%+3.4%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureMKCULLWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.4%24.9%45.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 34.4%24.2%54.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.340.020.22 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.90-0.28-0.42 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -57.7%-26.2%-66.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -33.0%-12.0%-19.4% -1.8%
52-week high $71.65$74.59$66.57 $779.14
52-week low $44.15$55.05$38.48 $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.

MultipleMKCULLW
P/E now vs peer median 8.7xmedian 20.5x —median 20.5x 29.0xmedian 20.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 0.8x 2.2xmedian 0.8x 1.1xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.5xmedian 12.3x —median 12.3x 12.1xmedian 12.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.0xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x 18.3xmedian 14.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 1.4x 7.7xmedian 1.4x 4.1xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.27median 0.42 —median 0.42 -0.81median 0.42

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 monthsMKCULLW
Revenue $7.69B $64.28B $6.62B
Gross profit $3.00B – $1.28B
Operating income $1.03B – $516.80M
Net income $1.51B – $254.80M
Free cash flow $925.90M – $403.80M
EPS (diluted) $5.53 – $1.85
Cash & equivalents $331.10M $5.40B $166.30M
Total debt $5.02B $27.38B $3.93B
Shares (diluted) 269.40M 2.20B 138.10M
Enterprise value $11.86B $93.83B $6.99B

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
MetricMKCULLW
P/E 8.7x – 29.0x
P/FCF 14.0x – 18.3x
P/Operating cash flow 11.3x – 9.0x
P/S 1.7x 2.2x 1.1x
P/B 1.7x 7.7x 4.1x
P/Tangible book 4.9x -91.7x 4.3x
EV/EBITDA 13.5x – 12.1x
EV/EBIT 17.1x – 21.6x
EV/Revenue 2.3x 2.5x 1.7x
EV/FCF 19.0x – 27.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.4x – 13.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.27 – -0.81

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMKCULLW
Revenue growth (1Y) 13.2% -2.6% 2.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 147.1% 4.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.7% – -7.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.4% – -8.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -3.2% – -15.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.5% – -21.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 93.3% – -13.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 32.7% – -36.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 91.5% – -12.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 32.2% – -35.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 29.8% – -7.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.4% – -3.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 41.3% – -17.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.9% – 205.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMKCULLW
Gross margin 39.1% – 19.4%
EBITDA margin 17.0% – 13.9%
Operating margin 13.4% – 7.8%
Pretax margin 10.8% – 5.1%
Net margin 19.4% – 3.8%
FCF margin 12.0% – 6.1%
Operating cash flow margin 14.8% – 12.5%
Return on equity 19.0% – 13.2%
Return on assets 8.7% – 3.3%
Return on invested capital 6.0% – 6.4%
Return on capital employed 8.5% – 8.7%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.8x – 3.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMKCULLW
Debt / assets 30.1% 31.2% 53.6%
Debt / equity 0.7x 1.5x 2.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.6x – 4.1x
Debt / FCF 5.4x – 9.7x
Liabilities / assets 54.4% 79.0% 75.3%
Equity / assets 45.6% 21.0% 24.7%
Interest coverage 4.6x – –
Current ratio 0.7x 0.7x 1.5x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.82 – 2.60

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMKCULLW
Dividend yield 4.0% 3.3% 2.8%
Net buyback yield -0.1% – 1.5%
Shareholder yield 3.9% 3.3% 4.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 33.6% – 81.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) 54.8% – 51.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) 6.9% – 0.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 7.1% – 11.1%

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.

ConsensusMKCULLW
Forward P/E 16.4xFY2026 19.3xFY2026 17.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.93FY2026 $3.40FY2026 $3.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -2.3%FY2026 -7.1%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.9% +7.9% +13.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.53BFY2026 $54.72BFY2026 $6.42BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.1%FY2026 -8.8%FY2026 -2.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.6% +7.8% -1.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMKCULLW
Held by institutions 88.9% 11.8% 93.7%
Institutions holding 948 1,190 557
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.8% +7.2% +1.0%
Institutions buying 478 576 266
Institutions selling 342 440 190
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.31 1.40

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.

MKCULLW
MKC 1.00 0.46 0.31
UL 0.46 1.00 0.25
LW 0.31 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MKC, UL and LW?

Unilever (UL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mccormick (MKC) $12.79B, Unilever (UL) $142.37B, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) $7.37B.

Which stock is cheaper, MKC, UL and LW?

Mccormick (MKC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mccormick (MKC) 8.6x, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 28.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Mccormick (MKC) is cheapest (Mccormick (MKC) 16.4x, Unilever (UL) 19.3x, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 17.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mccormick (MKC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mccormick (MKC) +13.2%, Unilever (UL) -2.6%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) +2.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mccormick (MKC) has the highest net margin (Mccormick (MKC) 19.4%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 3.8%). On return on invested capital, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) leads (Mccormick (MKC) 6.0%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 6.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Unilever (UL) returned the most: Mccormick (MKC) -28.2%, Unilever (UL) -6.9%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -19.2%. Over five years, Unilever (UL) compounded fastest (Mccormick (MKC) -9.8%/yr, Unilever (UL) +1.7%/yr, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -1.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Mccormick (MKC) has the highest dividend yield: Mccormick (MKC) 0.04%, Unilever (UL) 0.00%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 0.03%. Unilever (UL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Unilever (UL) has been the steadiest (Mccormick (MKC) 31.4%, Unilever (UL) 24.9%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 45.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MKC, UL and LW?

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