Ecolab (ECL) 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 valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, community ranking, profitability and institutional ownership.

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 prefer SHW or ECL?

Sherwin-Williams currently has a consensus price target of $400.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.10%. Ecolab has a consensus price target of $284.33, indicating a potential upside of 7.51%. Given Sherwin-Williams' higher possible upside, 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)	12 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Ecolab	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in SHW or ECL?

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

Which has more volatility and risk, SHW or ECL?

Sherwin-Williams has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecolab has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better 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	3.76	$2.68B	$10.55	32.66
Ecolab	$15.74B	4.76	$2.11B	$7.38	35.84

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SHW or ECL?

Sherwin-Williams received 140 more outperform votes than Ecolab when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.96% of users gave Ecolab an outperform vote while only 64.56% of users gave Sherwin-Williams an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Sherwin-Williams	Outperform Votes 900 64.56%	Underperform Votes 494 35.44%
Ecolab	Outperform Votes 760 64.96%	Underperform Votes 410 35.04%

Does the media prefer SHW or ECL?

In the previous week, Ecolab had 14 more articles in the media than Sherwin-Williams. MarketBeat recorded 63 mentions for Ecolab and 49 mentions for Sherwin-Williams. Sherwin-Williams' average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Ecolab's score of 1.03 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	33 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ecolab	36 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is SHW or ECL a better dividend stock?

Sherwin-Williams pays an annual dividend of $2.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ecolab pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Sherwin-Williams pays out 27.1% 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 increased its dividend for 47 consecutive years and Ecolab has increased its dividend for 33 consecutive years.

Summary

Sherwin-Williams beats Ecolab on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.