Acme United vs Eastern
ACU and EML side by side, both in cutlery, handtools, and general hardware. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How ACU and EML compare
Acme United is the larger company, worth 1.4 times as much as Eastern ($262M against $192M).
On earnings, Eastern is cheaper: it trades at 17.6× trailing earnings, against 25.2× for Acme United.
Acme United grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (13.1% versus −0.58% for Eastern).
Acme United keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 5.1% compared with 4.3% at Eastern.
Both pay dividends: Acme United yields 0.93% and Eastern 1.4%.
Acme United scores higher on the StockData Score (15 against 14 for Eastern), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | ACU | EML |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $262M | $192M |
| Share price | $68.46 | $31.87 |
| Change, 1 year | 87.3% | 61.6% |
| Change, 5 years | 90.2% | 30.1% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.46 | 0.93 |
| Employees | 649 | 1,246 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 15 (better) | 14 |
| Valuation score | 0 | 2 (better) |
| Growth score | 4 (better) | 1 |
| Performance score | 1 | 2 (better) |
| Health score | 6 (better) | 5 |
| Dividend score | 4 | 4 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 25.2× | 17.6× (better) |
| P/S | 1.2× | 0.8× (better) |
| P/B | 2.1× | 1.4× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 12.0× (better) | 12.7× |
| P/FCF | 19.0× (better) | 23.9× |
| PEG | 0.56 | – |
| FCF yield | 5.3% (better) | 4.2% |
| Fair value | $56.81 | $29.16 |
| Margin of safety | −20.5% | −9.3% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 13.1% (better) | −0.58% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 3.7% | 4.7% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 13.3% | 49.9% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 11.5% | 52.1% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 1.5% (better) | −7.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 41.7% (better) | 21.9% |
| Operating margin | 7.2% (better) | 4.2% |
| Net margin | 5.1% (better) | 4.3% |
| FCF margin | 6.3% (better) | 3.2% |
| Return on equity | 9.4% (better) | 8.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 9.5% (better) | 5.1% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.22 (better) | 0.30 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.86 (better) | 1.80 |
| Interest coverage | 7.7× (better) | 4.4× |
| Current ratio | 3.89 (better) | 2.73 |
| Altman Z-score | 4.45 (better) | 3.39 |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 7 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 0.93% | 1.4% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 21.5% | 24.3% |
| Years of dividend growth | 1 (better) | 0 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | – | 0.00% |
| Buyback yield | −1.0% | 0.83% (better) |
| Shareholder yield | −0.08% | 2.2% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 73.6% | 74.0% |
| Held by insiders | 12.3% | 27.1% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$3.4M | $984K (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 2.5% | 2.8% |
Go deeper
- ACU stock overview
- ACU income statement
- ACU valuation and score
- EML stock overview
- EML income statement
- EML valuation and score
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.