NVT vs POWL vs ETN Stock Comparison

nVent Electric, Powell Industries and Eaton Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NVT nVent Electric plc
$129.27 -23.8% 1M +15.0% 1Y
Market cap
$18.10B
P/E
26.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.29B
Div. yield
0.01%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
6 wins
POWL Powell Industries Inc
$163.34 -16.7% 1M +25.4% 1Y
Market cap
$5.19B
P/E
27.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.16B
Div. yield
0.00%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
4 wins
ETN Eaton Corp plc
$391.61 -10.2% 1M +1.3% 1Y
Market cap
$136.46B
P/E
35.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.98B
Div. yield
–
Electrical Equipment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

nVent Electric leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (nVent Electric 6, Powell Industries 4, Eaton 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNVTPOWLETNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $18.10B $5.19B $136.46B ETN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.6x 27.2x 35.0x NVT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.9x 31.6x 28.2x NVT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +48.0% +7.0% +20.1% NVT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.8% 16.5% 12.2% POWL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.3% — 10.7% NVT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.9x — 2.8x NVT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% NVT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +15.0% +25.4% +1.3% POWL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +28.6%/yr +78.9%/yr +17.9%/yr POWL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 50.7% 64.3% 41.6% ETN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 71/100 43/100 POWL

Percentile Scorecard

NVTPOWLETN

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

AxisNVTPOWLETN
Valuation 35 #133 of 204 42 #119 of 204 15 #173 of 204
Growth 91 #19 of 191 92 #17 of 191 73 #53 of 191
Profitability 75 #48 of 189 97 #6 of 189 73 #51 of 189
Financial Health 64 #81 of 221 76 #54 of 221 20 #178 of 221
Shareholder Returns 48 #83 of 158 47 #85 of 158 33 #106 of 158
Overall 62 71 43
  • NVT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • POWL ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • ETN ranked among 223 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNVTPOWLETNSPY
1 month -23.8%-16.7%-10.2% -2.0%
3 months -20.3%-22.7%-11.9% -2.2%
6 months -23.7%-44.6%-4.7% +4.2%
Year to date +26.8%+53.7%+23.0% +10.6%
1 year +15.0%+25.4%+1.3% +10.4%
3 years +159.1%+511.8%+82.3% +73.6%
3 years, per year +37.4%+83.0%+22.2% +20.2%
5 years +251.8%+1,726.5%+127.7% +61.6%
5 years, per year +28.6%+78.9%+17.9% +10.1%
10 years —+1,285.1%+555.7% +261.3%
10 years, per year —+30.1%+20.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureNVTPOWLETNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 50.7%64.3%41.6% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 58.6%67.5%44.8% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.322.511.92 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.300.400.03 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -47.1%-55.9%-34.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -29.9%-49.3%-14.9% -3.2%
52-week high $184.34$322.05$459.94 $779.14
52-week low $94.99$94.02$315.82 $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.

MultipleNVTPOWLETN
P/E now vs peer median 30.8xmedian 25.4x 31.2xmedian 25.4x 39.1xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 1.9x 5.1xmedian 1.9x 4.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.8xmedian 14.5x 22.5xmedian 14.5x 24.7xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.0xmedian 23.6x 24.4xmedian 23.6x 40.1xmedian 23.6x
P/B now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 2.2x 7.9xmedian 2.2x 7.2xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.27median 1.21 0.43median 1.21 3.79median 1.21

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 monthsNVTPOWLETN
Revenue $5.29B $1.16B $31.98B
Gross profit $1.94B $348.18M $11.21B
Operating income $942.50M $227.67M $5.54B
Net income $679.50M $190.86M $3.90B
Free cash flow $673.00M $243.96M $3.80B
R&D $92.80M $14.98M $879.00M
EPS (diluted) $4.14 $5.21 $10.00
Cash & equivalents $1.12B $633.56M $528.00M
Total debt $2.18B – $20.11B
Shares (diluted) 164.10M 36.60M 389.60M
Enterprise value $16.29B $3.04B $133.40B

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
MetricNVTPOWLETN
P/E 30.8x 31.2x 39.1x
P/FCF 31.0x 24.4x 40.1x
P/Operating cash flow 26.0x 23.2x 31.0x
P/S 3.9x 5.1x 4.8x
P/B 5.1x 7.9x 7.2x
P/Tangible book 8.9x 7.9x 17.4x
EV/EBITDA 18.8x 22.5x 24.7x
EV/EBIT 23.3x 23.4x 30.9x
EV/Revenue 4.1x 4.6x 5.4x
EV/FCF 32.6x 21.8x 45.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.3x 20.8x 34.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.27 0.43 3.79

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNVTPOWLETN
Revenue growth (1Y) 48.0% 7.0% 20.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 30.4% 21.0% 12.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.3% 11.9% 10.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 27.1% 39.2% 11.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 65.3% 8.0% 9.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 34.1% 74.2% 14.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 12.9% 8.8% -0.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 13.0% 73.1% 9.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 12.5% 8.6% -0.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 24.2% 72.8% 10.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 23.5% 153.9% 19.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.3% 25.5% 11.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 18.5% 201.1% 14.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.9% 25.0% 10.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNVTPOWLETN
Gross margin 36.6% 30.1% 35.0%
EBITDA margin 22.1% 20.4% 21.7%
Operating margin 17.8% 19.7% 17.3%
Pretax margin 16.5% 21.2% 15.4%
Net margin 12.8% 16.5% 12.2%
FCF margin 12.7% 21.1% 11.9%
Operating cash flow margin 15.2% 22.1% 15.3%
Return on equity 16.8% 26.1% 18.9%
Return on assets 8.9% 14.8% 6.9%
Return on invested capital 12.3% – 10.7%
Return on capital employed 14.7% 34.0% 12.6%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.9x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.3x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNVTPOWLETN
Debt / assets 26.9% – 35.0%
Debt / equity 0.5x – 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.9x – 2.8x
Debt / FCF 3.2x – 5.3x
Liabilities / assets 49.2% 46.2% 63.4%
Equity / assets 50.8% 53.8% 36.6%
Interest coverage – – 9.6x
Current ratio 2.4x 2.0x 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.7x 1.8x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.9x 1.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 4.80 8.12 3.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNVTPOWLETN
Dividend yield 0.6% 0.2% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 0.5% – 0.1%
Shareholder yield 1.1% 0.2% 1.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 19.8% 6.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 20.0% 5.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.9% 1.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.8% 1.8% –

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.

ConsensusNVTPOWLETN
Forward P/E 25.9xFY2026 31.6xFY2026 28.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.99FY2026 $5.17FY2026 $13.88FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +49.0%FY2026 +4.4%FY2026 +15.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +29.3% +26.9% +14.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.73BFY2026 $1.24BFY2026 $31.83BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +47.2%FY2026 +12.4%FY2026 +16.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.6% +26.2% +21.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNVTPOWLETN
Held by institutions 90.7% 75.0% 84.7%
Institutions holding 972 583 2,647
Change in shares held, QoQ 0.0% -4.3% +1.6%
Institutions buying 555 320 1,402
Institutions selling 290 215 893
Buyers to sellers 1.91 1.49 1.57

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.

NVTPOWLETN
NVT 1.00 0.66 0.80
POWL 0.66 1.00 0.70
ETN 0.80 0.70 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NVT, POWL and ETN?

Eaton (ETN) is the largest by market capitalisation: nVent Electric (NVT) $18.10B, Powell Industries (POWL) $5.19B, Eaton (ETN) $136.46B.

Which stock is cheaper, NVT, POWL and ETN?

nVent Electric (NVT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (nVent Electric (NVT) 26.6x, Powell Industries (POWL) 27.2x, Eaton (ETN) 35.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, nVent Electric (NVT) is cheapest (nVent Electric (NVT) 25.9x, Powell Industries (POWL) 31.6x, Eaton (ETN) 28.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

nVent Electric (NVT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: nVent Electric (NVT) +48.0%, Powell Industries (POWL) +7.0%, Eaton (ETN) +20.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Powell Industries (POWL) has the highest net margin (nVent Electric (NVT) 12.8%, Powell Industries (POWL) 16.5%, Eaton (ETN) 12.2%). On return on invested capital, nVent Electric (NVT) leads (nVent Electric (NVT) 12.3%, Eaton (ETN) 10.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Powell Industries (POWL) returned the most: nVent Electric (NVT) +15.0%, Powell Industries (POWL) +25.4%, Eaton (ETN) +1.3%. Over five years, Powell Industries (POWL) compounded fastest (nVent Electric (NVT) +28.6%/yr, Powell Industries (POWL) +78.9%/yr, Eaton (ETN) +17.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

nVent Electric (NVT) has the highest dividend yield: nVent Electric (NVT) 0.01%, Powell Industries (POWL) 0.00%, Eaton (ETN) 0.00%. Eaton (ETN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Eaton (ETN) has been the steadiest (nVent Electric (NVT) 50.7%, Powell Industries (POWL) 64.3%, Eaton (ETN) 41.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NVT, POWL and ETN?

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