Ecolab (ECL) Competitors

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

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%

Do analysts recommend SHW or ECL?

Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus target price of $401.13, suggesting a potential upside of 17.56%. Ecolab has a consensus target price of $286.88, suggesting a potential upside of 14.16%. Given Sherwin-Williams' higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Sherwin-Williams is more favorable than Ecolab.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sherwin-Williams	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.72
Ecolab	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

Do institutionals & insiders 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 endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has stronger 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	$23.10B	3.72	$2.68B	$10.55	32.34
Ecolab	$15.74B	4.53	$2.11B	$7.38	34.05

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SHW or ECL?

Sherwin-Williams received 138 more outperform votes than Ecolab when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.94% of users gave Ecolab an outperform vote while only 64.50% of users gave Sherwin-Williams an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Sherwin-Williams	Outperform Votes 901 64.50%	Underperform Votes 496 35.50%
Ecolab	Outperform Votes 763 64.94%	Underperform Votes 412 35.06%

Does the media prefer SHW or ECL?

In the previous week, Ecolab had 10 more articles in the media than Sherwin-Williams. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Ecolab and 33 mentions for Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin-Williams' average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat Ecolab's score of 1.32 indicating that Sherwin-Williams is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Sherwin-Williams	30 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ecolab	33 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, SHW or ECL?

Sherwin-Williams has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecolab has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ecolab pays out 35.2% 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.

Summary

Sherwin-Williams beats Ecolab on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.