stockrowAir Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD) vs Ecolab Inc. (ECL)
- Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. APD 304.71 −1.54%
- Ecolab Inc. ECL 300.63 −1.70%
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. and Ecolab Inc. are both Specialty Chemicals companies. Ecolab Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $85.8B against $68.9B — 1.2× the size. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; Ecolab Inc. trades at 41.3×. Ecolab Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 9.33% against 4.51%. Ecolab Inc. has the higher net margin (12.0% vs −0.38%) and the higher return on invested capital (7.91% vs −1.12%). Both pay a dividend; Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. yields more (2.32% vs 0.95%). Across the 20 metrics below, Ecolab Inc. leads on 17 and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. on 3.
Valuation
Profitability
| Metric | APD | ECL | Specialty Chemicals median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 32.06% | 43.94% | 27.84% |
| Operating margin | (4.71%) | 16.71% | 5.64% |
| Net margin | (0.38%) | 11.99% | 4.19% |
| Free cash flow margin | (0.86%) | 10.38% | 3.49% |
| Return on equity | (0.28%) | 20.61% | 2.34% |
| Return on assets | (0.12%) | 7.57% | 0.45% |
| Return on invested capital | (1.12%) | 7.91% | 3.21% |
Growth
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Dividend
Size
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