SMID vs JHX vs ZWS Stock Comparison

Smith Midland, James Hardie Industries and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SMID Smith Midland Corp
$23.84 +7.4% 1M -34.6% 1Y
Market cap
$126.52M
P/E
16.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$89.50M
Div. yield
–
Building Products Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

James Hardie Industries leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (James Hardie Industries 4, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions 4, Smith Midland 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSMIDJHXZWSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $126.52M $16.15B $7.38B JHX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.4x 110.8x 25.5x SMID
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 19.7x 23.9x JHX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.6% +42.9% +10.1% JHX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.6% 2.7% 15.9% ZWS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.8% 2.6% 14.0% ZWS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.5x 3.5x 0.4x SMID
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.99% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -34.6% +32.9% -5.2% JHX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.1%/yr -7.2%/yr +4.8%/yr ZWS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 51.4% 45.0% 29.9% ZWS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 80/100 32/100 76/100 SMID

Percentile Scorecard

SMIDJHXZWS

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

AxisSMIDJHXZWS
Valuation 82 #11 of 55 20 #44 of 55 43 #32 of 55
Growth 80 #11 of 51 48 #27 of 51 98 #2 of 51
Profitability 66 #18 of 51 40 #31 of 51 80 #11 of 51
Financial Health 91 #6 of 59 33 #40 of 59 88 #8 of 59
Shareholder Returns – 20 #33 of 41 73 #12 of 41
Overall 80 32 76
  • SMID ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products
  • JHX ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products
  • ZWS ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSMIDJHXZWSSPY
1 month +7.4%+11.3%-6.4% -2.3%
3 months -13.5%+0.5%-12.8% -0.7%
6 months -29.9%+39.9%-11.2% +4.8%
Year to date -34.4%+34.1%-4.0% +10.3%
1 year -34.6%+32.9%-5.2% +10.3%
3 years +18.0%+3.5%+55.8% +73.0%
3 years, per year +5.7%+1.2%+16.0% +20.1%
5 years +22.3%-31.0%+26.4% +61.9%
5 years, per year +4.1%-7.2%+4.8% +10.1%
10 years +577.3%+92.5%+374.0% +258.6%
10 years, per year +21.1%+6.8%+16.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSMIDJHXZWSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 51.4%45.0%29.9% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.6%41.4%29.0% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.941.650.82 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.670.73-0.17 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -72.4%-60.3%-47.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.1%-10.5%-16.0% -3.5%
52-week high $39.82$31.09$53.17 $779.14
52-week low $21.20$16.69$43.46 $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.

MultipleSMIDJHXZWS
P/E now vs peer median 16.4xmedian 21.6x 110.8xmedian 21.6x 25.5xmedian 21.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.6x 3.0xmedian 1.6x 4.0xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.3xmedian 13.2x 17.8xmedian 13.2x 15.5xmedian 13.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.4xmedian 17.4x 45.3xmedian 17.4x 19.1xmedian 17.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 2.9x 2.5xmedian 2.9x 4.4xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.12median 1.00 -2.79median 1.00 0.65median 1.00

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 monthsSMIDJHXZWS
Revenue $89.50M $5.41B $1.83B
Gross profit $21.00M $1.94B $920.70M
Operating income $10.80M $526.70M $403.00M
Net income $7.73M $145.70M $290.60M
Free cash flow $4.17M $356.40M $387.00M
R&D – $64.00M –
EPS (diluted) $1.46 $0.25 $1.73
Cash & equivalents $10.66M $289.90M $307.10M
Total debt $4.14M $4.28B $500.30M
Shares (diluted) 5.31M 584.30M 168.11M
Enterprise value $77.38M $15.21B $6.14B

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
MetricSMIDJHXZWS
P/E 16.4x 110.8x 25.5x
P/FCF 30.4x 45.3x 19.1x
P/Operating cash flow 8.7x 22.2x 17.9x
P/S 1.4x 3.0x 4.0x
P/B 2.2x 2.5x 4.4x
P/Tangible book 3.9x 4.9x 8.6x
EV/EBITDA 8.3x 17.8x 15.5x
EV/EBIT 11.1x 38.2x 18.8x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 3.7x 4.1x
EV/FCF 28.8x 56.5x 19.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 8.2x 27.7x 18.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.12 -2.79 0.65

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSMIDJHXZWS
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.6% 42.9% 10.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.4% 13.2% 6.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -18.4% 34.4% 23.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 35.0% 13.0% 15.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -30.8% -5.8% 50.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 134.1% -11.3% 31.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -49.1% -56.0% 51.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 136.0% -34.0% 37.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -35.9% -67.6% 53.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 135.4% -39.7% 39.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 92.5% -11.8% 29.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 97.2% 1.0% 13.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 459.8% 110.4% 34.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 38.5% 75.0% 14.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSMIDJHXZWS
Gross margin 23.5% 35.9% 50.4%
EBITDA margin 16.1% 20.9% 26.8%
Operating margin 12.1% 9.7% 22.1%
Pretax margin 12.0% 5.1% 21.0%
Net margin 8.6% 2.7% 15.9%
FCF margin 4.7% 6.6% 21.2%
Operating cash flow margin 16.3% 13.4% 22.6%
Return on equity 13.7% 2.2% 17.3%
Return on assets 8.6% 1.0% 10.4%
Return on invested capital 12.8% 2.6% 14.0%
Return on capital employed 13.8% 4.2% 16.2%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.4x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 5.0x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% 0.8% 2.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSMIDJHXZWS
Debt / assets 4.8% 31.7% 17.8%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.7x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.5x 3.5x 0.4x
Debt / FCF 1.0x 12.0x 1.3x
Liabilities / assets 34.2% 51.5% 39.7%
Equity / assets 65.8% 48.5% 60.3%
Interest coverage 48.9x 1.8x 16.1x
Current ratio 4.1x 1.6x 2.9x
Quick ratio 3.1x 0.7x 1.8x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.3x 1.0x
Altman Z-score 5.28 2.18 4.84

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSMIDJHXZWS
Dividend yield – – 1.0%
Net buyback yield – 1.9% 2.1%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 1.9% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 25.3%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 19.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 21.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 14.5%

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.

ConsensusSMIDJHXZWS
Forward P/E – 19.7xFY2026 23.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $1.41FY2026 $1.87FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +29.4%FY2026 +23.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +12.8% +3.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $5.13BFY2026 $1.81BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +6.0%FY2026 +6.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +15.1% +3.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSMIDJHXZWS
Held by institutions 57.0% 49.9% 88.6%
Institutions holding 56 339 438
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +7.1% +0.9%
Institutions buying 23 189 237
Institutions selling 17 100 145
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.89 1.63

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.

SMIDJHXZWS
SMID 1.00 0.24 0.23
JHX 0.24 1.00 0.43
ZWS 0.23 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SMID, JHX and ZWS?

James Hardie Industries (JHX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smith Midland (SMID) $126.52M, James Hardie Industries (JHX) $16.15B, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) $7.38B.

Which stock is cheaper, SMID, JHX and ZWS?

Smith Midland (SMID) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smith Midland (SMID) 16.4x, James Hardie Industries (JHX) 110.8x, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 25.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, James Hardie Industries (JHX) is cheapest (James Hardie Industries (JHX) 19.7x, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 23.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

James Hardie Industries (JHX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smith Midland (SMID) -1.6%, James Hardie Industries (JHX) +42.9%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) +10.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) has the highest net margin (Smith Midland (SMID) 8.6%, James Hardie Industries (JHX) 2.7%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 15.9%). On return on invested capital, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) leads (Smith Midland (SMID) 12.8%, James Hardie Industries (JHX) 2.6%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 14.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year James Hardie Industries (JHX) returned the most: Smith Midland (SMID) -34.6%, James Hardie Industries (JHX) +32.9%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) -5.2%. Over five years, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) compounded fastest (Smith Midland (SMID) +4.1%/yr, James Hardie Industries (JHX) -7.2%/yr, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) +4.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Smith Midland (SMID) 0.00%, James Hardie Industries (JHX) 0.00%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 0.99%. Smith Midland (SMID) and James Hardie Industries (JHX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) has been the steadiest (Smith Midland (SMID) 51.4%, James Hardie Industries (JHX) 45.0%, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (ZWS) 29.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SMID, JHX and ZWS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, James Hardie Industries (JHX) leads on 4. 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.