Clorox vs Ecolab
CLX and ECL side by side, both in soap, detergents, and cleaning preparations; perfumes, cosmetics, and other toilet preparations. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How CLX and ECL compare
Ecolab is the larger company, worth 8.0 times as much as Clorox ($84.9B against $10.6B).
On earnings, Clorox is cheaper: it trades at 18.3× trailing earnings, against 41.2× for Ecolab.
Ecolab grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (9.3% versus −5.4% for Clorox).
Ecolab keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 12.0% compared with 8.7% at Clorox.
Both pay dividends: Clorox yields 4.2% and Ecolab 0.96%.
Ecolab scores higher on the StockData Score (17 against 14 for Clorox), 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 | CLX | ECL |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $10.6B | $84.9B |
| Share price | $88.00 | $302.98 |
| Change, 1 year | −20.5% | 17.7% |
| Change, 5 years | −46.1% | 31.3% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.53 | 0.96 |
| Employees | 9,200 | 48K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 14 | 17 (better) |
| Valuation score | 5 (better) | 1 |
| Growth score | 2 | 3 (better) |
| Performance score | 4 | 5 (better) |
| Health score | 0 | 4 (better) |
| Dividend score | 3 | 4 (better) |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 18.3× (better) | 41.2× |
| P/S | 1.6× (better) | 4.9× |
| P/B | 118× | 8.1× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 13.5× (better) | 33.6× |
| P/FCF | 26.3× (better) | 47.3× |
| PEG | 0.31 (better) | 1.71 |
| FCF yield | 3.8% (better) | 2.1% |
| Fair value | $143.34 | $226.29 |
| Margin of safety | 38.6% (better) | −33.9% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | −5.4% | 9.3% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | −1.8% | 6.4% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | −27.5% | 4.9% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | −26.2% | 5.6% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | −2.9% | – |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 42.3% | 43.9% (better) |
| Operating margin | – | 16.7% |
| Net margin | 8.7% | 12.0% (better) |
| FCF margin | 6.0% | 10.3% (better) |
| Return on equity | 286% (better) | 20.7% |
| Return on invested capital | – | 12.1% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 56.31 | 1.27 (better) |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.22 (better) | 4.30 |
| Interest coverage | – | 7.4× |
| Current ratio | 0.66 | 1.11 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 1.63 | 3.98 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 3 | 6 (better) |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 4.2% (better) | 0.96% |
| Payout ratio | 103% | 39.3% |
| Years of dividend growth | 17 (better) | 16 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 2.2% | 7.2% (better) |
| Buyback yield | 2.4% (better) | 1.3% |
| Shareholder yield | 6.6% (better) | 2.2% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 86.3% | 80.6% |
| Held by insiders | 0.65% | 10.6% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | $846K (better) | −$23.2M |
| Superinvestors holding | 2 | 3 (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 9.6% | 2.1% |
Go deeper
- CLX stock overview
- CLX income statement
- CLX valuation and score
- ECL stock overview
- ECL income statement
- ECL valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.