NVT vs ST vs ETN Stock Comparison

nVent Electric, Sensata Technologies Holding and Eaton Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NVT nVent Electric plc
$140.15 -12.8% 1M +34.5% 1Y
Market cap
$22.68B
P/E
37.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.83B
Div. yield
0.60%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
5 wins
ETN Eaton Corp plc
$393.05 -8.9% 1M +4.5% 1Y
Market cap
$152.66B
P/E
39.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$30.03B
Div. yield
1.10%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Sensata Technologies Holding leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Sensata Technologies Holding 5, nVent Electric 5, Eaton 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNVTSTETNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $22.68B $5.96B $152.66B ETN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 37.9x 16.2x 39.9x ST
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.1x 11.4x 28.3x ST
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +46.2% +4.1% +15.5% NVT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.4% 9.5% 12.8% ETN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.9% 8.2% 10.3% NVT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 2.3x 3.1x NVT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.60% 1.17% 1.10% ST
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +34.5% +32.6% +4.5% NVT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +31.7%/yr -5.8%/yr +19.0%/yr NVT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 50.3% 39.9% 40.7% ST
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 64/100 45/100 ST

Percentile Scorecard

NVTSTETN

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

AxisNVTSTETN
Valuation 23 #156 of 203 87 #27 of 203 14 #175 of 203
Growth 90 #20 of 188 73 #52 of 188 74 #50 of 188
Profitability 74 #48 of 184 70 #56 of 184 74 #49 of 184
Financial Health 63 #82 of 217 42 #126 of 217 20 #173 of 217
Shareholder Returns 43 #88 of 153 49 #79 of 153 43 #87 of 153
Overall 59 64 45
  • NVT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ST ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ETN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNVTSTETNSPY
1 month -12.8%-2.0%-8.9% +0.9%
3 months +4.9%-11.1%+8.6% +5.9%
6 months +2.0%+3.4%-4.3% +8.5%
Year to date +37.4%+22.9%+23.4% +13.3%
1 year +34.5%+32.6%+4.5% +12.4%
3 years +205.5%+19.3%+101.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year +45.1%+6.1%+26.3% +23.5%
5 years +295.3%-25.7%+138.6% +68.2%
5 years, per year +31.7%-5.8%+19.0% +11.0%
10 years —+13.7%+530.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+1.3%+20.2% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureNVTSTETNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 50.3%39.9%40.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 56.9%37.0%43.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.251.931.87 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.690.820.11 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -47.1%-72.8%-34.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -24.0%-23.6%-14.5% -0.9%
52-week high $184.34$53.55$459.94 $779.14
52-week low $94.99$28.53$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.

MultipleNVTSTETN
P/E now vs peer median 37.9xmedian 25.4x 16.2xmedian 25.4x 39.9xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 1.9x 1.5xmedian 1.9x 5.1xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.6xmedian 14.3x 9.7xmedian 14.3x 26.5xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.4xmedian 21.8x 9.3xmedian 21.8x 38.8xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 2.2x 1.9xmedian 2.2x 7.5xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.87median 1.41 2.37median 1.41 3.00median 1.41

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 monthsNVTSTETN
Revenue $4.83B $3.85B $30.03B
Gross profit $1.79B $1.19B $10.78B
Operating income $826.50M $582.40M $5.32B
Net income $598.30M $366.60M $3.83B
Free cash flow $659.90M $641.20M $3.93B
R&D $89.10M $128.60M $844.00M
EPS (diluted) $3.65 $2.49 $9.83
Cash & equivalents $256.00M $553.40M $483.00M
Total debt $1.49B $2.40B $20.61B
Shares (diluted) 164.10M 147.00M 389.50M
Enterprise value $21.87B $3.79B $149.89B

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
MetricNVTSTETN
P/E 37.9x 16.2x 39.9x
P/FCF 34.4x 9.3x 38.8x
P/Operating cash flow 29.4x 7.8x 30.8x
P/S 4.7x 1.5x 5.1x
P/B 5.7x 1.9x 7.5x
P/Tangible book 10.3x 2.2x 19.9x
EV/EBITDA 22.6x 9.7x 26.5x
EV/EBIT 28.9x 13.4x 32.5x
EV/Revenue 4.9x 2.0x 5.7x
EV/FCF 36.2x 12.2x 43.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 31.0x 10.3x 34.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.87 2.37 3.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNVTSTETN
Revenue growth (1Y) 46.2% 4.1% 15.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 26.0% -1.9% 10.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 37.9% 11.4% 8.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 23.8% -3.3% 12.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 53.9% 175.8% 8.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.0% 2.8% 15.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 2.1% 1,505% -2.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.3% 5.6% 12.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.8% 1,492% -2.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 20.3% 6.9% 13.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 33.9% 28.5% 21.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.4% 9.6% 14.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 32.8% 34.4% 20.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.8% 17.0% 13.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNVTSTETN
Gross margin 37.0% 30.8% 35.9%
EBITDA margin 21.9% 20.9% 21.7%
Operating margin 17.1% 15.1% 17.7%
Pretax margin 15.7% 12.4% 16.1%
Net margin 12.4% 9.5% 12.8%
FCF margin 13.7% 16.7% 13.1%
Operating cash flow margin 16.0% 19.7% 16.5%
Return on equity 15.4% 12.2% 19.1%
Return on assets 8.5% 5.5% 6.9%
Return on invested capital 11.9% 8.2% 10.3%
Return on capital employed 13.9% 10.0% 12.2%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 2.1x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNVTSTETN
Debt / assets 20.9% 35.8% 36.7%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.8x 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 2.3x 3.1x
Debt / FCF 2.3x 3.7x 5.2x
Liabilities / assets 44.2% 54.1% 63.9%
Equity / assets 55.8% 45.9% 36.1%
Interest coverage – 4.4x 12.0x
Current ratio 1.8x 2.4x 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.1x 1.5x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.7x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 5.90 2.59 3.75

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNVTSTETN
Dividend yield 0.6% 1.2% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 0.2% 0.4% 0.3%
Shareholder yield 0.8% 1.6% 1.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 22.2% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 20.1% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.1% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.3% – –

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.

ConsensusNVTSTETN
Forward P/E 28.1xFY2026 11.4xFY2026 28.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.99FY2026 $3.60FY2026 $13.88FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +49.0%FY2026 +5.3%FY2026 +15.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +29.3% +19.7% +14.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.73BFY2026 $3.79BFY2026 $31.83BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +47.2%FY2026 +2.3%FY2026 +16.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.6% +1.1% +21.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNVTSTETN
Held by institutions 90.7% 100.0% 84.7%
Institutions holding 970 467 2,642
Change in shares held, QoQ 0.0% +1.1% +1.6%
Institutions buying 555 265 1,399
Institutions selling 288 149 892
Buyers to sellers 1.93 1.78 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.

NVTSTETN
NVT 1.00 0.58 0.78
ST 0.58 1.00 0.64
ETN 0.78 0.64 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NVT, ST and ETN?

Eaton (ETN) is the largest by market capitalisation: nVent Electric (NVT) $22.68B, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) $5.96B, Eaton (ETN) $152.66B.

Which stock is cheaper, NVT, ST and ETN?

Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (nVent Electric (NVT) 37.9x, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 16.2x, Eaton (ETN) 39.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) is cheapest (nVent Electric (NVT) 28.1x, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 11.4x, Eaton (ETN) 28.3x). 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) +46.2%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) +4.1%, Eaton (ETN) +15.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Eaton (ETN) has the highest net margin (nVent Electric (NVT) 12.4%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 9.5%, Eaton (ETN) 12.8%). On return on invested capital, nVent Electric (NVT) leads (nVent Electric (NVT) 11.9%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 8.2%, Eaton (ETN) 10.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year nVent Electric (NVT) returned the most: nVent Electric (NVT) +34.5%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) +32.6%, Eaton (ETN) +4.5%. Over five years, nVent Electric (NVT) compounded fastest (nVent Electric (NVT) +31.7%/yr, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) -5.8%/yr, Eaton (ETN) +19.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) has the highest dividend yield: nVent Electric (NVT) 0.60%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 1.17%, Eaton (ETN) 1.10%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) has been the steadiest (nVent Electric (NVT) 50.3%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 39.9%, Eaton (ETN) 40.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NVT, ST 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, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 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.