VLTO vs FERG vs ECL Stock Comparison

Veralto, Ferguson Enterprises and Ecolab Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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VLTO Veralto Corp
$102.84 +6.9% 1M +0.3% 1Y
Market cap
$25.11B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.70B
Div. yield
0.51%
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$292.52 +4.3% 1M +9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$81.99B
P/E
39.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
1.00%
Water Treatment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Ferguson Enterprises leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Ferguson Enterprises 5, Ecolab 4, Veralto 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionVLTOFERGECLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $25.11B $44.80B $81.99B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.5x 22.1x 39.4x FERG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.7x 21.6x 37.0x FERG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.2% +5.2% +9.3% ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.3% 6.5% — VLTO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 17.4% 21.7% — FERG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.9x 1.0x — VLTO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.51% 1.54% 1.00% FERG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.3% -6.6% +9.0% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +8.8%/yr +5.7%/yr FERG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.4% 29.8% 21.5% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 74/100 66/100 52/100 VLTO

Percentile Scorecard

VLTOFERGECL

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

AxisVLTOFERGECL
Valuation 80 #5 of 21 42 #27 of 46 30 #15 of 21
Growth 72 #6 of 19 76 #10 of 39 83 #4 of 19
Profitability 100 #1 of 17 87 #6 of 39 75 #5 of 17
Financial Health 57 #10 of 22 50 #24 of 47 19 #18 of 22
Shareholder Returns 63 #4 of 9 74 #9 of 32 –
Overall 74 66 52
  • VLTO ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodVLTOFERGECLSPY
1 month +6.9%+1.5%+4.3% +0.9%
3 months +4.0%+2.0%+3.0% +5.9%
6 months +14.9%-9.9%+14.0% +8.5%
Year to date +3.1%+3.7%+11.4% +13.3%
1 year +0.3%-6.6%+9.0% +12.4%
3 years +51.3%+52.1%+85.8% +88.1%
3 years, per year +14.8%+15.0%+23.0% +23.5%
5 years —+52.6%+31.6% +68.2%
5 years, per year —+8.8%+5.7% +11.0%
10 years —+335.4%+154.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+15.9%+9.8% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureVLTOFERGECLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.4%29.8%21.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.2%30.9%21.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.231.130.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.01-0.220.42 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.6%-43.6%-44.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.9%-13.8%-5.1% -0.9%
52-week high $104.87$267.71$308.35 $779.14
52-week low $82.23$214.24$245.73 $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.

MultipleVLTOFERGECL
P/E now vs peer median 25.5xmedian 25.5x 22.1xmedian 25.6x 39.4xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 2.4x 1.4xmedian 1.1x 4.7xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.0xmedian 19.0x 15.1xmedian 13.3x —median 19.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 23.0x 19.8xmedian 22.0x 41.5xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 8.1xmedian 2.0x 7.6xmedian 2.6x 7.8xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 5.69median 1.69 —median 2.36 1.99median 1.69

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 monthsVLTOFERGECL
Revenue $5.70B $31.35B $17.37B
Gross profit $3.43B $9.73B –
Operating income $1.30B $2.82B $2.90B
Net income $988.00M $2.03B –
Free cash flow $1.05B $2.26B –
R&D $276.00M – –
EPS (diluted) $4.02 $10.42 $7.38
Cash & equivalents $2.12B $820.00M $722.30M
Total debt $3.38B $4.13B –
Shares (diluted) 245.80M 194.80M 282.20M
Enterprise value $17.76B $42.02B $82.02B

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
MetricVLTOFERGECL
P/E 25.5x 22.1x 39.4x
P/FCF 24.0x 19.8x 41.5x
P/Operating cash flow 22.8x 17.1x –
P/S 4.4x 1.4x 4.7x
P/B 8.1x 7.6x 7.8x
P/Tangible book 11.1x 8.6x 15.3x
EV/EBITDA 19.0x 15.1x –
EV/EBIT 20.4x 17.1x –
EV/Revenue 4.6x 1.5x 4.7x
EV/FCF 25.2x 21.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 23.9x 18.4x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 5.69 – 1.99

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVLTOFERGECL
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.2% 5.2% 9.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.8% – 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.8% 7.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.5% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 3.5% 17.6% 11.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.7% – 17.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 10.6% 31.6% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 4.4% – –
EPS growth (1Y) 12.5% 34.4% 6.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.5% – 19.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.8% 35.9% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 11.0% 42.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVLTOFERGECL
Gross margin 60.2% 31.0% –
EBITDA margin 24.4% 10.2% –
Operating margin 22.7% 9.0% –
Pretax margin 21.2% 8.3% –
Net margin 17.3% 6.5% –
FCF margin 18.4% 7.2% –
Operating cash flow margin 19.4% 8.3% –
Return on equity 32.4% 34.0% 20.4%
Return on assets 12.2% 11.4% 6.9%
Return on invested capital 17.4% 21.7% –
Return on capital employed 21.4% 23.4% –
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.8x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% 0.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVLTOFERGECL
Debt / assets 39.5% 23.2% –
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.9x 1.0x –
Debt / FCF 3.2x 1.8x –
Liabilities / assets 63.8% 67.0% 66.4%
Equity / assets 36.2% 33.0% 33.6%
Interest coverage 14.1x – –
Current ratio 1.8x 1.8x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.5x 0.8x –
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 4.50 5.42 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVLTOFERGECL
Dividend yield 0.5% 1.5% 1.0%
Net buyback yield 1.7% 1.9% –
Shareholder yield 2.2% 3.4% 1.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusVLTOFERGECL
Forward P/E 22.7xFY2026 21.6xFY2026 37.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.54FY2026 $10.68FY2026 $7.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.4%FY2026 +7.4%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.9% +20.5% +23.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.70BFY2026 $34.30BFY2026 $17.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.7%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +16.5% -0.7% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVLTOFERGECL
Held by institutions 96.1% 96.3% 80.0%
Institutions holding 974 937 1,711
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.3% +2.1% +1.4%
Institutions buying 399 477 763
Institutions selling 384 343 679
Buyers to sellers 1.04 1.39 1.12

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.

VLTOFERGECL
VLTO 1.00 0.21 0.31
FERG 0.21 1.00 0.46
ECL 0.31 0.46 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VLTO, FERG and ECL?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Veralto (VLTO) $25.11B, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $44.80B, Ecolab (ECL) $81.99B.

Which stock is cheaper, VLTO, FERG and ECL?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Veralto (VLTO) 25.5x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.1x, Ecolab (ECL) 39.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is cheapest (Veralto (VLTO) 22.7x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.6x, Ecolab (ECL) 37.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ecolab (ECL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Veralto (VLTO) +6.2%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Veralto (VLTO) has the highest net margin (Veralto (VLTO) 17.3%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%). On return on invested capital, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads (Veralto (VLTO) 17.4%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Veralto (VLTO) +0.3%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -6.6%, Ecolab (ECL) +9.0%. Over five years, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) compounded fastest (Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +8.8%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +5.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has the highest dividend yield: Veralto (VLTO) 0.51%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 1.54%, Ecolab (ECL) 1.00%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Veralto (VLTO) 23.4%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 29.8%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, VLTO, FERG and ECL?

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