Ecolab (ECL) Competitors

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

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%

Does the media prefer ECL or SHW?

In the previous week, Ecolab and Ecolab both had 21 articles in the media. Ecolab's average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat Sherwin-Williams' score of 1.32 indicating that Ecolab is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ecolab	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Sherwin-Williams	17 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, 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	$15.68B	4.87	$2.11B	$7.36	36.61
Sherwin-Williams	$23.04B	3.92	$2.68B	$10.58	34.10

Do analysts prefer ECL or SHW?

Ecolab presently has a consensus target price of $283.13, indicating a potential upside of 5.08%. Sherwin-Williams has a consensus target price of $397.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.04%. 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

Do insiders & institutionals believe in ECL or SHW?

74.9% of Ecolab shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Sherwin-Williams shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Ecolab shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Sherwin-Williams shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ECL or SHW?

Sherwin-Williams received 135 more outperform votes than Ecolab when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.90% of users gave Ecolab an outperform vote while only 64.44% of users gave Sherwin-Williams an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ecolab	Outperform Votes 771 64.90%	Underperform Votes 417 35.10%
Sherwin-Williams	Outperform Votes 906 64.44%	Underperform Votes 500 35.56%

Which has more risk and volatility, ECL or SHW?

Ecolab has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sherwin-Williams has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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 35.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sherwin-Williams pays out 29.9% 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 raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years and Sherwin-Williams has raised its dividend for 48 consecutive years.

Summary

Sherwin-Williams beats Ecolab on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.