NDSN vs ITW vs RRX Stock Comparison

Nordson, Illinois Tool Works and Regal Rexnord Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NDSN Nordson Corp
$324.30 -0.5% 1M +36.1% 1Y
Market cap
$18.08B
P/E
32.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
8 wins
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.93 +0.7% 1M +11.3% 1Y
Market cap
$78.83B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins
RRX Regal Rexnord Corp
$158.32 +1.3% 1M +8.1% 1Y
Market cap
$10.70B
P/E
33.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.06B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Nordson leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Nordson 8, Illinois Tool Works 3, Regal Rexnord 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNDSNITWRRXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $18.08B $78.83B $10.70B ITW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.6x 24.0x 33.0x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.1x 25.9x 15.6x RRX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.0% — +3.5% NDSN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 18.6% — 5.4% NDSN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 13.1% — 5.0% NDSN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.7x — 3.5x NDSN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% NDSN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +36.1% +11.3% +8.1% NDSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.3%/yr +4.0%/yr +0.8%/yr NDSN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.2% 21.3% 52.1% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 49/100 39/100 NDSN

Percentile Scorecard

NDSNITWRRX

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

AxisNDSNITWRRX
Valuation 30 #142 of 203 24 #154 of 203 53 #96 of 203
Growth 55 #85 of 188 35 #123 of 188 39 #115 of 188
Profitability 96 #8 of 183 – 48 #95 of 183
Financial Health 54 #101 of 217 – 29 #155 of 217
Shareholder Returns 51 #76 of 153 87 #21 of 153 26 #114 of 153
Overall 57 49 39
  • NDSN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • RRX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNDSNITWRRXSPY
1 month -0.5%+0.7%+1.3% -0.2%
3 months +7.2%-6.5%-22.0% +3.9%
6 months +15.1%+2.8%-24.5% +8.2%
Year to date +34.9%+12.0%+12.8% +12.9%
1 year +36.1%+11.3%+8.1% +12.3%
3 years +52.9%+23.6%+33.3% +87.4%
3 years, per year +15.2%+7.3%+10.1% +23.3%
5 years +29.2%+21.8%+4.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.3%+4.0%+0.8% +10.9%
10 years +225.5%+143.5%+170.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year +12.5%+9.3%+10.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureNDSNITWRRXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.2%21.3%52.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.2%20.7%54.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.880.472.20 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.620.530.15 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.9%-28.9%-48.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.1%-7.9%-33.5% -1.2%
52-week high $334.70$299.60$238.19 $779.14
52-week low $226.69$241.07$128.75 $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.

MultipleNDSNITWRRX
P/E now vs peer median 32.5xmedian 25.2x 24.0xmedian 25.2x 32.5xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 6.1xmedian 1.9x 4.6xmedian 1.9x 1.7xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.2xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x 12.2xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.9xmedian 21.7x 26.0xmedian 21.7x 22.6xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 2.3x 25.0xmedian 2.3x 1.5xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 7.39median 1.32 —median 1.32 3.52median 1.32

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 monthsNDSNITWRRX
Revenue $2.98B – $6.06B
Gross profit $1.65B – $2.29B
Operating income $800.96M – $706.80M
Net income $555.18M $3.23B $324.90M
Free cash flow $724.01M – $466.30M
EPS (diluted) $9.91 – $4.84
Cash & equivalents $113.43M $809.00M $441.60M
Total debt $1.73B – $4.61B
Shares (diluted) 56.03M 287.00M 66.90M
Enterprise value $17.64B $78.83B $8.93B

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
MetricNDSNITWRRX
P/E 32.5x 24.0x 32.5x
P/FCF 24.9x 26.0x 22.6x
P/Operating cash flow 23.4x 24.1x 18.9x
P/S 6.1x 4.6x 1.7x
P/B 5.5x 25.0x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 6.8x 30.2x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA 21.2x – 12.2x
EV/EBIT 24.6x – 20.8x
EV/Revenue 6.6x – 2.4x
EV/FCF 27.2x – 31.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.4x 24.1x 26.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 7.39 – 3.52

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNDSNITWRRX
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.0% – 3.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.7% – 2.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.4% – 5.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.5% – 8.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 18.4% – 9.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 6.4% – 6.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 22.0% 6.7% 28.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 3.5% 0.9% 8.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 23.5% – 28.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.4% – 9.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 26.2% -0.5% -43.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.9% -0.5% -5.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 33.3% – -47.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.6% – -5.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNDSNITWRRX
Gross margin 55.3% – 37.8%
EBITDA margin 31.2% – 19.9%
Operating margin 26.9% – 11.7%
Pretax margin 22.6% – 6.6%
Net margin 18.6% – 5.4%
FCF margin 24.3% – 7.7%
Operating cash flow margin 26.0% – 9.2%
Return on equity 17.2% 106.9% 4.7%
Return on assets 9.3% – 2.4%
Return on invested capital 13.1% – 5.0%
Return on capital employed 15.3% – 5.6%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.0x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% – 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNDSNITWRRX
Debt / assets 29.1% – 33.5%
Debt / equity 0.5x – 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.7x – 3.5x
Debt / FCF 2.4x – 9.9x
Liabilities / assets 45.0% – 49.7%
Equity / assets 55.0% – 50.3%
Interest coverage 8.8x – 2.1x
Current ratio 1.8x 1.3x 2.3x
Quick ratio 1.0x – 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.2x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 6.26 – 1.92

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNDSNITWRRX
Dividend yield 1.0% 2.4% 0.9%
Net buyback yield 1.1% – -0.1%
Shareholder yield 2.1% 2.4% 0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 33.0% – 28.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) 25.3% – 19.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.3% – 0.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 7.2% – 0.0%

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.

ConsensusNDSNITWRRX
Forward P/E 29.1xFY2026 25.9xFY2026 15.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.14FY2026 $10.67FY2026 $10.17FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.8%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026 +5.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.5% +19.3% +18.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.19BFY2026 $16.46BFY2026 $6.51BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.3%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026 +9.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.7% +11.4% +4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNDSNITWRRX
Held by institutions 76.0% 84.9% 100.0%
Institutions holding 755 1,969 610
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.1% +0.8% +4.5%
Institutions buying 389 846 339
Institutions selling 240 750 181
Buyers to sellers 1.62 1.13 1.87

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.

NDSNITWRRX
NDSN 1.00 0.55 0.51
ITW 0.55 1.00 0.39
RRX 0.51 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NDSN, ITW and RRX?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Nordson (NDSN) $18.08B, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $78.83B, Regal Rexnord (RRX) $10.70B.

Which stock is cheaper, NDSN, ITW and RRX?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Nordson (NDSN) 32.6x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.0x, Regal Rexnord (RRX) 33.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Regal Rexnord (RRX) is cheapest (Nordson (NDSN) 29.1x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.9x, Regal Rexnord (RRX) 15.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nordson (NDSN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%, Regal Rexnord (RRX) +3.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nordson (NDSN) has the highest net margin (Nordson (NDSN) 18.6%, Regal Rexnord (RRX) 5.4%). On return on invested capital, Nordson (NDSN) leads (Nordson (NDSN) 13.1%, Regal Rexnord (RRX) 5.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nordson (NDSN) returned the most: Nordson (NDSN) +36.1%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +11.3%, Regal Rexnord (RRX) +8.1%. Over five years, Nordson (NDSN) compounded fastest (Nordson (NDSN) +5.3%/yr, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.0%/yr, Regal Rexnord (RRX) +0.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Nordson (NDSN) has the highest dividend yield: Nordson (NDSN) 0.01%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 0.00%, Regal Rexnord (RRX) 0.01%. Illinois Tool Works (ITW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (Nordson (NDSN) 22.2%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.3%, Regal Rexnord (RRX) 52.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NDSN, ITW and RRX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Nordson (NDSN) leads on 8. 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.