Ecolab (ECL) Competitors

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) and Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, community ranking, analyst recommendations, valuation, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is ECL or SHW a better dividend stock?

Ecolab pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Sherwin-Williams pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab pays out 35.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sherwin-Williams pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Ecolab has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years and Sherwin-Williams has increased its dividend for 48 consecutive years.

Do analysts prefer ECL or SHW?

Ecolab currently has a consensus price target of $282.47, indicating a potential upside of 11.47%. Sherwin-Williams has a consensus price target of $396.67, indicating a potential upside of 12.18%. Given Sherwin-Williams' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sherwin-Williams is more favorable than Ecolab.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ecolab	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82
Sherwin-Williams	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ECL or SHW?

Sherwin-Williams received 134 more outperform votes than Ecolab when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.95% of users gave Ecolab an outperform vote while only 64.41% of users gave Sherwin-Williams an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ecolab	Outperform Votes 771 64.95%	Underperform Votes 416 35.05%
Sherwin-Williams	Outperform Votes 905 64.41%	Underperform Votes 500 35.59%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ECL or SHW?

74.9% of Ecolab shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Sherwin-Williams shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Ecolab shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Sherwin-Williams shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is ECL or SHW more profitable?

Ecolab has a net margin of 13.42% compared to Sherwin-Williams' net margin of 11.61%. Sherwin-Williams' return on equity of 74.50% beat Ecolab's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ecolab	13.42%	22.50%	8.74%
Sherwin-Williams	11.61%	74.50%	12.16%

Which has more risk and volatility, ECL or SHW?

Ecolab has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sherwin-Williams has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to ECL or SHW?

In the previous week, Ecolab had 2 more articles in the media than Sherwin-Williams. MarketBeat recorded 49 mentions for Ecolab and 47 mentions for Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin-Williams' average media sentiment score of 1.05 beat Ecolab's score of 0.98 indicating that Sherwin-Williams is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ecolab	29 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Sherwin-Williams	29 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings & valuation, ECL or SHW?

Sherwin-Williams has higher revenue and earnings than Ecolab. Sherwin-Williams is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ecolab, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ecolab	$15.74B	4.57	$2.11B	$7.38	34.34
Sherwin-Williams	$23.10B	3.85	$2.68B	$10.55	33.52

Summary

Sherwin-Williams beats Ecolab on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.