Ecolab vs Procter & Gamble
ECL and PG 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 ECL and PG compare
Procter & Gamble is the larger company, worth 4.5 times as much as Ecolab ($389B against $86.3B).
On earnings, Procter & Gamble is cheaper: it trades at 25.4× trailing earnings, against 41.9× for Ecolab.
Ecolab grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (9.3% versus 3.5% for Procter & Gamble).
Procter & Gamble keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 18.2% compared with 12.0% at Ecolab.
Both pay dividends: Ecolab yields 0.95% and Procter & Gamble 1.9%.
Ecolab scores higher on the StockData Score (16 against 12 for Procter & Gamble), 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 | ECL | PG |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $86.3B | $389B |
| Share price | $307.86 | $167.67 |
| Change, 1 year | 19.1% | 15.2% |
| Change, 5 years | 31.1% | 14.2% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.95 | 0.39 |
| Employees | 48K | 104K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 16 (better) | 12 |
| Valuation score | 0 | 3 (better) |
| Growth score | 3 (better) | 0 |
| Performance score | 5 (better) | 2 |
| Health score | 4 (better) | 3 |
| Dividend score | 4 | 4 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 41.9× | 25.4× (better) |
| P/S | 5.0× | 4.4× (better) |
| P/B | 8.3× | – |
| EV/EBITDA | 34.1× | 17.9× (better) |
| P/FCF | 48.1× | 25.3× (better) |
| PEG | 1.74 (better) | 6.48 |
| FCF yield | 2.1% | 3.9% (better) |
| Fair value | $241.95 | $165.04 |
| Margin of safety | −27.2% | −1.6% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 9.3% (better) | 3.5% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 6.4% (better) | 2.7% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 4.9% (better) | −4.4% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 5.6% (better) | −3.1% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | – | 3.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 43.9% | 49.8% (better) |
| Operating margin | 16.7% | 22.6% (better) |
| Net margin | 12.0% | 18.2% (better) |
| FCF margin | 10.3% | 17.4% (better) |
| Return on equity | 20.7% | – |
| Return on invested capital | 12.1% | – |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 1.27 | – |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.30 | 1.02 (better) |
| Interest coverage | 7.4× | 22.0× (better) |
| Current ratio | 1.11 (better) | 0.72 |
| Altman Z-score | 4.02 | 5.49 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 0.95% | 1.9% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 39.3% | 64.2% |
| Years of dividend growth | 16 (better) | 8 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 7.2% (better) | 5.6% |
| Buyback yield | 1.3% | 1.3% (better) |
| Shareholder yield | 2.2% | 3.2% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 80.5% | 70.5% |
| Held by insiders | 10.6% | 0.06% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$17.2M (better) | −$93.5M |
| Superinvestors holding | 3 | 4 (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 1.7% | 0.97% |
Go deeper
- ECL stock overview
- ECL income statement
- ECL valuation and score
- PG stock overview
- PG income statement
- PG valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.