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Ecolab Inc. (ECL) vs Linde PLC (LIN)

Ecolab Inc. and Linde PLC are both Specialty Chemicals companies. Linde PLC is the larger, with a market value of $239.3B against $85.8B — 2.8× the size. Linde PLC trades at the lower P/E: 34.2× against 41.3×. Ecolab Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 9.33% against 8.16%. Linde PLC has the higher net margin (19.3% vs 12.0%) and the higher return on invested capital (8.98% vs 7.91%). Both pay a dividend; Linde PLC yields more (1.21% vs 0.95%). Across the 23 metrics below, Linde PLC leads on 17 and Ecolab Inc. on 6.

Valuation

Metric ECL LIN Specialty Chemicals median
P/E 41.31 34.16 24.46
P/S 4.94 6.61 1.64
P/B 8.21 5.85 1.88
Price to free cash flow 47.60 47.17 19.15
EV/EBITDA 24.71 20.20 12.87
EV/Sales 5.66 7.24 1.88
Earnings yield 2.42% 2.93% 2.42%
Free cash flow yield 2.10% 2.12% 2.25%

Profitability

Metric ECL LIN Specialty Chemicals median
Gross margin 43.94% 47.86% 27.84%
Operating margin 16.71% 25.28% 5.64%
Net margin 11.99% 19.34% 4.19%
Free cash flow margin 10.38% 14.02% 3.49%
Return on equity 20.61% 17.29% 2.34%
Return on assets 7.57% 8.05% 0.45%
Return on invested capital 7.91% 8.98% 3.21%

Growth

Metric ECL LIN Specialty Chemicals median
Revenue growth (TTM) 9.33% 8.16% 6.39%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) (1.22%) 7.27% (9.77%)
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 6.40% 4.52% 6.33%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% 22.50% 0.00%

Health

Metric ECL LIN Specialty Chemicals median
Debt to equity 1.26 0.65 0.59
Current ratio 1.11 0.86 2.28
Net debt to EBITDA 2.04 1.73 2.03

Dividend

Metric ECL LIN Specialty Chemicals median
Dividend yield 0.95% 1.21% 1.80%
Payout ratio 0.40 0.42 0.40

Size

Metric ECL LIN Specialty Chemicals median
Market cap 85.78b 239.29b 2.08b

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