RPM vs ESI vs DOW Stock Comparison

Rpm International, Element Solutions and Dow Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
RPM Rpm International Inc/De/
$102.23 +2.3% 1M -5.7% 1Y
Market cap
$12.94B
P/E
18.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.97B
Div. yield
–
Paints and Coatings Basic Materials
6 wins
ESI Element Solutions Inc
$35.39 -1.6% 1M +33.9% 1Y
Market cap
$8.36B
P/E
40.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
2 wins
DOW Dow Inc.
$33.62 +21.8% 1M +35.2% 1Y
Market cap
$24.71B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$42.61B
Div. yield
0.04%
Commodity Chemicals Basic Materials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Rpm International leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Rpm International 6, Dow 3, Element Solutions 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionRPMESIDOWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.94B $8.36B $24.71B DOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.8x 40.8x -27.5x RPM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.3x 20.6x 12.6x DOW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.0% +39.6% +4.2% ESI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.7% 5.9% -2.1% RPM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.5% 5.4% 2.0% RPM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 3.2x 3.9x RPM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.04% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -5.7% +33.9% +35.2% DOW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.2%/yr +9.3%/yr -9.7%/yr ESI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.8% 47.0% 41.7% RPM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 48/100 52/100 RPM

Percentile Scorecard

RPMESIDOW

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

AxisRPMESIDOW
Valuation 56 #42 of 94 38 #59 of 94 80 #20 of 94
Growth 66 #32 of 92 75 #24 of 92 57 #40 of 92
Profitability 87 #12 of 86 58 #37 of 86 47 #46 of 86
Financial Health 52 #45 of 93 42 #54 of 93 32 #64 of 93
Shareholder Returns 57 #31 of 71 29 #51 of 71 44 #40 of 71
Overall 64 48 52
  • RPM ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • ESI ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • DOW ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodRPMESIDOWSPY
1 month +2.3%-1.6%+21.8% +0.7%
3 months -5.2%-0.6%+11.8% +3.7%
6 months +0.3%-16.9%-17.0% +7.1%
Year to date -1.7%+41.6%+43.8% +12.8%
1 year -5.7%+33.9%+35.2% +11.9%
3 years +12.8%+94.5%-30.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year +4.1%+24.8%-11.4% +22.8%
5 years +17.2%+55.8%-39.9% +67.6%
5 years, per year +3.2%+9.3%-9.7% +10.9%
10 years +114.7%+391.5%— +262.0%
10 years, per year +7.9%+17.3%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureRPMESIDOWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.8%47.0%41.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 26.2%47.4%38.0% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.942.19-0.32 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.190.720.84 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.5%-40.3%-70.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.9%-27.9%-19.7% -1.2%
52-week high $120.17$49.09$41.87 $779.14
52-week low $93.23$22.99$20.95 $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.

MultipleRPMESIDOW
P/E now vs peer median 18.8xmedian 21.0x 42.0xmedian 21.0x -27.2xmedian 21.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 1.4x 2.5xmedian 1.4x 0.6xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.9xmedian 12.9x 18.1xmedian 12.9x 10.9xmedian 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.5xmedian 15.5x 46.9xmedian 15.5x 11.5xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 1.7x 3.0xmedian 1.7x 1.4xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.71median 1.68 0.75median 1.68 0.70median 1.68

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 monthsRPMESIDOW
Revenue $7.97B $3.49B $42.61B
Gross profit $3.28B $1.28B $4.73B
Operating income $961.65M $408.70M $720.00M
Net income $691.27M $205.20M -$595.00M
Free cash flow $705.58M $182.90M $2.11B
R&D – $80.00M $741.00M
EPS (diluted) $5.42 $0.84 $-1.23
Cash & equivalents $312.84M $224.90M $4.14B
Total debt $10.15B $2.08B $17.54B
Shares (diluted) 127.24M 243.70M 727.40M
Enterprise value $11.70B $7.14B $8.67B

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
MetricRPMESIDOW
P/E 18.8x 42.0x -27.2x
P/FCF 18.5x 46.9x 11.5x
P/Operating cash flow 14.1x 30.3x 5.3x
P/S 1.6x 2.5x 0.6x
P/B 3.7x 3.0x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 4.9x 4.5x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 12.9x 18.1x 10.9x
EV/EBIT 15.7x 25.6x 52.4x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 3.0x 0.9x
EV/FCF 21.4x 57.1x 17.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.4x 36.9x 8.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.71 0.75 0.70

Growth

14 metrics
MetricRPMESIDOW
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.0% 39.6% 4.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.8% 14.4% -2.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.5% 21.5% 62.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.0% 11.7% -2.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 9.0% 17.6% 685.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 31.9% -30.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 0.2% -14.4% 40.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 10.5% 56.0% -34.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 0.8% -15.0% 21.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 55.8% -38.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.1% -16.0% 190.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.4% -4.2% -6.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.7% -32.2% 279.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.0% -12.3% -13.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricRPMESIDOW
Gross margin 41.2% 36.6% 11.1%
EBITDA margin 14.8% 16.6% 8.2%
Operating margin 12.1% 11.7% 1.7%
Pretax margin 11.4% 9.0% -1.0%
Net margin 8.7% 5.9% -2.1%
FCF margin 8.9% 5.2% 5.0%
Operating cash flow margin 11.6% 8.1% 10.8%
Return on equity 20.4% 7.2% -3.4%
Return on assets 8.3% 3.5% -1.0%
Return on invested capital 12.5% 5.4% 2.0%
Return on capital employed 15.1% 7.8% 1.4%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.4x -7.7x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 2.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricRPMESIDOW
Debt / assets 29.2% 35.5% 28.8%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.7x 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 3.2x 3.9x
Debt / FCF 3.4x 11.4x 8.3x
Liabilities / assets 57.7% 50.7% 71.1%
Equity / assets 42.3% 49.3% 28.9%
Interest coverage 8.9x – 0.8x
Current ratio 1.8x 2.8x 1.8x
Quick ratio 1.0x 1.7x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.4x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 3.85 2.58 1.63

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricRPMESIDOW
Dividend yield 2.1% 0.9% 4.2%
Net buyback yield 0.6% 0.5% –
Shareholder yield 2.8% 1.4% 4.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – -169.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 47.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – -41.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – -20.1%

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.

ConsensusRPMESIDOW
Forward P/E 18.3xFY2026 20.6xFY2026 12.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.58FY2026 $1.72FY2026 $2.67FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.9%FY2026 +15.4%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +12.5% +33.7% -33.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.69BFY2026 $3.86BFY2026 $41.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.1%FY2026 +51.4%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.0% +2.3% +9.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersRPMESIDOW
Held by institutions 86.1% 100.0% 77.8%
Institutions holding 796 500 1,209
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.8% +0.7% +9.9%
Institutions buying 385 270 549
Institutions selling 245 176 451
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.53 1.22

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.

RPMESIDOW
RPM 1.00 0.30 -0.09
ESI 0.30 1.00 -0.02
DOW -0.09 -0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, RPM, ESI and DOW?

Dow (DOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Rpm International (RPM) $12.94B, Element Solutions (ESI) $8.36B, Dow (DOW) $24.71B.

Which stock is cheaper, RPM, ESI and DOW?

Rpm International (RPM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Rpm International (RPM) 18.8x, Element Solutions (ESI) 40.8x, Dow (DOW) -27.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Dow (DOW) is cheapest (Rpm International (RPM) 18.3x, Element Solutions (ESI) 20.6x, Dow (DOW) 12.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Element Solutions (ESI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Rpm International (RPM) +6.0%, Element Solutions (ESI) +39.6%, Dow (DOW) +4.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Rpm International (RPM) has the highest net margin (Rpm International (RPM) 8.7%, Element Solutions (ESI) 5.9%, Dow (DOW) -2.1%). On return on invested capital, Rpm International (RPM) leads (Rpm International (RPM) 12.5%, Element Solutions (ESI) 5.4%, Dow (DOW) 2.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Dow (DOW) returned the most: Rpm International (RPM) -5.7%, Element Solutions (ESI) +33.9%, Dow (DOW) +35.2%. Over five years, Element Solutions (ESI) compounded fastest (Rpm International (RPM) +3.2%/yr, Element Solutions (ESI) +9.3%/yr, Dow (DOW) -9.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Rpm International (RPM) 0.00%, Element Solutions (ESI) 0.00%, Dow (DOW) 0.04%. Rpm International (RPM) and Element Solutions (ESI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Rpm International (RPM) has been the steadiest (Rpm International (RPM) 29.8%, Element Solutions (ESI) 47.0%, Dow (DOW) 41.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, RPM, ESI and DOW?

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