Lincoln Electric vs Nordson
LECO and NDSN side by side. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How LECO and NDSN compare
Nordson is the larger company, worth 1.2 times as much as Lincoln Electric ($18.0B against $15.1B).
On earnings, Lincoln Electric is cheaper: it trades at 27.7× trailing earnings, against 32.6× for Nordson.
Lincoln Electric grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (9.3% versus 7.0% for Nordson).
Nordson keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 18.6% compared with 12.4% at Lincoln Electric.
Both pay dividends: Lincoln Electric yields 1.1% and Nordson 1.1%.
Nordson scores higher on the StockData Score (18 against 16 for Lincoln Electric), 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 | LECO | NDSN |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $15.1B | $18.0B |
| Share price | $276.92 | $322.67 |
| Change, 1 year | 18.1% | 38.4% |
| Change, 5 years | 93.2% | 23.5% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.98 | 1.01 |
| Employees | 66 | 8,000 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 16 | 18 (better) |
| Valuation score | 1 (better) | 0 |
| Growth score | 0 | 3 (better) |
| Performance score | 6 | 6 |
| Health score | 5 | 5 |
| Dividend score | 4 | 4 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 27.7× (better) | 32.6× |
| P/S | 3.4× (better) | 6.0× |
| P/B | 9.7× | 5.5× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 18.4× (better) | 22.3× |
| P/FCF | 27.8× | 24.8× (better) |
| PEG | 5.48 | – |
| FCF yield | 3.6% | 4.0% (better) |
| Fair value | $230.49 | $247.33 |
| Margin of safety | −20.1% (better) | −30.5% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 9.3% (better) | 7.0% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 9.8% (better) | 5.6% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 10.1% | 22.0% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 12.5% | 24.2% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 22.2% (better) | 14.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 36.0% | 55.3% (better) |
| Operating margin | 17.1% | 26.9% (better) |
| Net margin | 12.4% | 18.6% (better) |
| FCF margin | 12.1% | 24.3% (better) |
| Return on equity | 37.7% (better) | 17.8% |
| Return on invested capital | 24.6% (better) | 13.4% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.74 | 0.53 (better) |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.04 (better) | 1.84 |
| Interest coverage | 13.1× (better) | 8.8× |
| Current ratio | 1.98 (better) | 1.82 |
| Altman Z-score | 7.79 (better) | 6.24 |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 (better) | 5 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 1.1% (better) | 1.1% |
| Payout ratio | 30.9% | 33.0% |
| Years of dividend growth | 16 | 16 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 9.0% | 15.6% (better) |
| Buyback yield | 1.6% (better) | 1.1% |
| Shareholder yield | 2.7% (better) | 2.1% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 81.7% | 76.5% |
| Held by insiders | 0.53% | 0.55% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$8.3M (better) | −$25.6M |
| Short interest, % of float | 2.2% | 2.6% |
Go deeper
- LECO stock overview
- LECO income statement
- LECO valuation and score
- NDSN stock overview
- NDSN income statement
- NDSN valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.