Ecolab Inc. (ECL) vs International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF)

Ecolab Inc. and International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. are both Specialty Chemicals companies. Ecolab Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $77.2B against $21.9B — 3.5× the size. Ecolab Inc. trades at the lower P/E: 37.3× against 78.6×. Ecolab Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 7.11% against 3.49%. Ecolab Inc. has the higher net margin (12.6% vs 2.56%) and the higher return on invested capital (9.83% vs 2.65%). Both pay a dividend; International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. yields more (4.00% vs 1.06%). Across the 22 metrics below, Ecolab Inc. leads on 12 and International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. on 10.

Valuation

Metric ECL IFF Specialty Chemicals median
P/E 37.27 78.61 24.83
P/S 4.66 2.02 1.46
P/B 7.78 1.56 1.76
Price to free cash flow 41.59 39.23 19.84
EV/EBITDA 22.28 15.35 13.18
EV/Sales 5.14 2.49 1.84
Earnings yield 2.68% 1.27% 2.11%
Free cash flow yield 2.40% 2.55% 2.29%

Profitability

Metric ECL IFF Specialty Chemicals median
Gross margin 44.11% 36.50% 29.23%
Operating margin 16.93% 7.48% 3.63%
Net margin 12.57% 2.56% 2.89%
Free cash flow margin 11.20% 5.15% 3.78%
Return on equity 21.78% 1.95% 3.62%
Return on assets 7.89% 1.08% 0.35%
Return on invested capital 9.83% 2.65% 2.75%

Growth

Metric ECL IFF Specialty Chemicals median
Revenue growth (TTM) 7.11% 3.49% 4.51%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) (1.22%) (253.68%) —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 6.40% 16.46% 6.30%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Health

Metric ECL IFF Specialty Chemicals median
Debt to equity 1.31 0.41 0.54
Current ratio 1.84 2.06 1.94
Net debt to EBITDA 2.04 7.16 2.03

Dividend

Metric ECL IFF Specialty Chemicals median
Dividend yield 1.06% 4.00% 1.69%
Payout ratio 0.51 1.24 0.25

Size

Metric ECL IFF Specialty Chemicals median
Market cap 77.19b 21.90b 2.43b

Compare with another peer

Any metric, up to five companies and an Excel export Powerpack