MMM vs ROK vs NDSN Stock Comparison

3M, Rockwell Automation and Nordson Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MMM 3M Co
$173.47 +1.9% 1M +1.1% 1Y
Market cap
$89.47B
P/E
25.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$25.25B
Div. yield
0.02%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
5 wins
ROK Rockwell Automation, Inc
$426.18 -1.6% 1M +19.3% 1Y
Market cap
$47.75B
P/E
39.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.97B
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins
NDSN Nordson Corp
$318.84 -0.8% 1M +35.1% 1Y
Market cap
$17.94B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

3M leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (3M 5, Nordson 4, Rockwell Automation 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMMMROKNDSNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $89.47B $47.75B $17.94B MMM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.3x 39.8x 32.3x MMM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.8x 34.1x 28.6x MMM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.7% +11.3% +7.0% ROK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.0% 13.4% 18.6% NDSN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 22.0% 21.0% 13.1% MMM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.6x 1.3x 1.7x ROK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.01% MMM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +1.1% +19.3% +35.1% NDSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.8%/yr +6.1%/yr +4.7%/yr ROK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.6% 31.3% 22.2% NDSN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 53/100 56/100 NDSN

Percentile Scorecard

MMMROKNDSN

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

AxisMMMROKNDSN
Valuation 37 #129 of 203 15 #173 of 203 28 #147 of 203
Growth 60 #76 of 188 52 #91 of 188 57 #82 of 188
Profitability 87 #25 of 187 94 #12 of 187 96 #9 of 187
Financial Health 18 #183 of 222 32 #152 of 222 53 #106 of 222
Shareholder Returns 44 #86 of 153 74 #41 of 153 49 #78 of 153
Overall 49 53 56
  • MMM ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ROK ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • NDSN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMMMROKNDSNSPY
1 month +1.9%-1.6%-0.8% -1.0%
3 months +0.5%-7.8%+7.8% +2.9%
6 months +18.8%+6.2%+12.9% +6.4%
Year to date +8.4%+9.5%+32.6% +11.4%
1 year +1.1%+19.3%+35.1% +13.1%
3 years +130.2%+60.3%+49.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +32.1%+17.0%+14.2% +21.5%
5 years +14.8%+34.7%+25.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year +2.8%+6.1%+4.7% +10.9%
10 years +22.4%+246.5%+217.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +2.0%+13.2%+12.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMMMROKNDSNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.6%31.3%22.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.7%31.7%21.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.681.390.87 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.040.621.58 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -53.4%-45.6%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.6%-13.9%-4.7% -2.5%
52-week high $183.81$495.08$334.70 $779.14
52-week low $141.20$348.51$226.69 $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.

MultipleMMMROKNDSN
P/E now vs peer median 25.5xmedian 25.9x 39.4xmedian 25.9x 32.0xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 1.9x 5.3xmedian 1.9x 6.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 13.7x 23.9xmedian 13.7x 20.9xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 33.5xmedian 21.1x 31.5xmedian 21.1x 24.5xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 2.3x 13.5xmedian 2.3x 5.4xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.71median 1.19 -8.98median 1.19 7.27median 1.19

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 monthsMMMROKNDSN
Revenue $25.25B $8.97B $2.98B
Gross profit $9.98B $4.41B $1.65B
Operating income $4.74B $1.77B $800.96M
Net income $3.58B $1.20B $555.18M
Free cash flow $2.68B $1.50B $724.01M
R&D $1.21B $716.00M –
EPS (diluted) $6.77 $10.76 $9.91
Cash & equivalents $4.84B $479.00M $113.43M
Total debt $15.00B $13.81B $1.73B
Shares (diluted) 522.60M 111.60M 56.03M
Enterprise value $70.91B $45.94B $17.50B

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
MetricMMMROKNDSN
P/E 25.5x 39.4x 32.0x
P/FCF 33.5x 31.5x 24.5x
P/Operating cash flow 24.7x 27.3x 23.0x
P/S 3.6x 5.3x 6.0x
P/B 21.5x 13.5x 5.4x
P/Tangible book 42.3x 17.0x 6.7x
EV/EBITDA 16.1x 23.9x 20.9x
EV/EBIT 21.0x 28.3x 24.2x
EV/Revenue 3.9x 5.6x 6.5x
EV/FCF 37.2x 33.3x 26.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.4x 28.9x 25.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.71 -8.98 7.27

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMMMROKNDSN
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.7% 11.3% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.7% 1.3% 4.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.8% 1.9% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 17.0% 7.5% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -3.7% -7.1% 18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 33.4% 2.9% 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.8% 23.8% 22.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 35.4% -5.5% 3.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 7.1% 25.2% 23.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.8% -4.4% 4.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 42.8% 13.8% 26.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.1% 22.8% 5.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 68.6% 13.9% 33.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.0% 23.6% 5.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMMMROKNDSN
Gross margin 39.5% 49.1% 55.3%
EBITDA margin 24.4% 23.3% 31.2%
Operating margin 18.8% 19.7% 26.9%
Pretax margin 17.5% 14.7% 22.6%
Net margin 14.0% 13.4% 18.6%
FCF margin 10.6% 16.8% 24.3%
Operating cash flow margin 14.4% 19.3% 26.0%
Return on equity 101.3% 30.9% 17.2%
Return on assets 9.8% 9.8% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 22.0% 21.0% 13.1%
Return on capital employed 18.7% 23.6% 15.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.4x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 1.0% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMMMROKNDSN
Debt / assets 37.9% 29.4% 29.1%
Debt / equity 3.6x 0.9x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.6x 1.3x 1.7x
Debt / FCF 5.6x 2.2x 2.4x
Liabilities / assets 89.5% 68.5% 45.0%
Equity / assets 10.5% 31.5% 55.0%
Interest coverage – 12.8x 8.8x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.1x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.7x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.10 5.85 6.19

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMMMROKNDSN
Dividend yield 1.8% 1.3% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 3.0% 1.5% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 4.8% 2.8% 2.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 44.8% – 33.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 59.9% – 25.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.2% – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -21.4% – 7.2%

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.

ConsensusMMMROKNDSN
Forward P/E 19.8xFY2026 34.1xFY2026 28.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.75FY2026 $12.50FY2026 $11.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.6%FY2026 +18.7%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +12.3% +21.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $23.87BFY2026 $8.50BFY2026 $3.19BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.8%FY2026 +1.9%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.4% +19.4% +5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMMMROKNDSN
Held by institutions 74.5% 89.2% 76.0%
Institutions holding 2,208 1,540 755
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +3.5% +3.1%
Institutions buying 914 805 389
Institutions selling 837 437 240
Buyers to sellers 1.09 1.84 1.62

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.

MMMROKNDSN
MMM 1.00 0.28 0.47
ROK 0.28 1.00 0.52
NDSN 0.47 0.52 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MMM, ROK and NDSN?

3M (MMM) is the largest by market capitalisation: 3M (MMM) $89.47B, Rockwell Automation (ROK) $47.75B, Nordson (NDSN) $17.94B.

Which stock is cheaper, MMM, ROK and NDSN?

3M (MMM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (3M (MMM) 25.3x, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 39.8x, Nordson (NDSN) 32.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, 3M (MMM) is cheapest (3M (MMM) 19.8x, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 34.1x, Nordson (NDSN) 28.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Rockwell Automation (ROK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: 3M (MMM) +1.7%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +11.3%, Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nordson (NDSN) has the highest net margin (3M (MMM) 14.0%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 13.4%, Nordson (NDSN) 18.6%). On return on invested capital, 3M (MMM) leads (3M (MMM) 22.0%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 21.0%, Nordson (NDSN) 13.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nordson (NDSN) returned the most: 3M (MMM) +1.1%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +19.3%, Nordson (NDSN) +35.1%. Over five years, Rockwell Automation (ROK) compounded fastest (3M (MMM) +2.8%/yr, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +6.1%/yr, Nordson (NDSN) +4.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

3M (MMM) has the highest dividend yield: 3M (MMM) 0.02%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 0.00%, Nordson (NDSN) 0.01%. Rockwell Automation (ROK) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nordson (NDSN) has been the steadiest (3M (MMM) 25.6%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 31.3%, Nordson (NDSN) 22.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MMM, ROK and NDSN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, 3M (MMM) leads on 5. 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.