Sherwin-Williams (SHW) Competitors

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

Is SHW or ECL 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
Sherwin-Williams	11.61%	74.50%	12.16%
Ecolab	13.42%	22.50%	8.74%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SHW or ECL?

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

Is SHW or ECL a better dividend stock?

Sherwin-Williams pays an annual dividend of $3.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Sherwin-Williams pays out 29.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ecolab pays out 35.3% 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. Sherwin-Williams has raised its dividend for 48 consecutive years and Ecolab has raised its dividend for 33 consecutive years.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, SHW or ECL?

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
Sherwin-Williams	$23.04B	3.89	$2.68B	$10.58	33.84
Ecolab	$15.68B	4.82	$2.11B	$7.36	36.20

Which has more volatility & risk, SHW or ECL?

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

Does the media refer more to SHW or ECL?

In the previous week, Sherwin-Williams and Sherwin-Williams both had 22 articles in the media. Ecolab's average media sentiment score of 1.51 beat Sherwin-Williams' score of 1.41 indicating that Ecolab is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sherwin-Williams	18 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ecolab	19 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in SHW or ECL?

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

Do analysts recommend SHW or ECL?

Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus price target of $397.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.90%. Ecolab has a consensus price target of $283.13, suggesting a potential upside of 6.26%. Given Sherwin-Williams' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Sherwin-Williams is more favorable than Ecolab.

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

Summary

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