How comparing works here

How do I compare two companies?

Type the tickers into the box above — up to five at once. Every row is read from the companies' own annual filings, so a comparison shows the same measure computed the same way for each of them rather than whatever each company chose to highlight.

Can I compare an ETF with a stock?

Yes, and the table changes to suit. Two funds are compared on cost, income, spread and record, because revenue growth and debt mean nothing for a fund. A fund against a company shows only what both of them have.

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Put up to 4 companies, funds, commodities or coins next to each other — health, valuation, growth and performance.

Every row is computed the same way for every column, from each company's own annual filing, so a comparison is not a collection of whichever figures each of them chose to put in a press release. Funds are compared on what a fund is actually judged on: cost, income, spread and record.

Relative performance

Rebased so every symbol starts at 0%

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Side by side

Latest annual figures from each company's filings

MetricFERGFerguson Enterprises Inc. /DE/URIUNITED RENTALS, INC.GWWW.W. GRAINGER, INC.FASTFASTENAL COMedian of the restexcluding FERG
TypeCompanyCompanyCompanyCompany
Price
$227.08▲ 0.72 (0.32%)
$1111.02▲ 42.04 (3.93%)
$1351.87▲ 15.91 (1.19%)
$52.73▲ 0.24 (0.46%)
Health scoreComposite of profitability, growth, debt and accounting quality.8.0/108.7/108.0/109.0/108.7/10
Market value$44.54B$70.10B$65.18B$60.54B
Revenue$30.76B$3.69B$17.94B$8.20B
Profit$1.86B$2.49B$1.71B$1.26B
Revenue growthChange in sales versus the prior year.3.8%3.0%4.5%8.7%4.5%
Gross marginShare of sales left after the direct cost of producing them.30.7%166.3%39.1%45.0%45.0%
Operating marginShare of sales left after running the business, before interest and tax.8.5%107.5%13.9%20.2%20.2%
Profit marginProfit kept from each dollar of sales.6.0%67.5%9.5%15.3%15.3%
Free cash flow marginCash left after capital spending, as a share of sales.5.2%—7.4%12.8%10.1%
Return on equityProfit against the owners' stake in the company.31.8%27.8%45.7%31.9%31.9%
Return on invested capital (approx.)Operating profit after tax against equity plus debt, less cash. Cash here excludes short-term investments, so this runs low for cash-rich companies.21.4%12.2%31.1%33.2%31.1%
P/E ratioPrice paid per dollar of annual profit.24.00x28.11x38.21x48.11x38.21x
EV / EBITDA (approx.)Market value plus debt less cash, against operating profit before depreciation. Cash excludes short-term investments, so this runs high for cash-rich companies.16.12x—23.75x32.91x28.33x
Price to book7.64x7.82x17.45x15.35x15.35x
Debt to equityTotal liabilities compared with owners' stake.2.04x2.33x1.40x0.28x1.40x
Piotroski F-ScoreNine checks of financial strength. Higher is stronger.7/94/96/98/96.0
Bankruptcy riskAltman Z-Score zone.safesafesafesafe

How FERG compares with the others

  • FERG's operating margin of 8.5% is lower than the median of the other companies selected (20.2%).
  • Its revenue growth of 3.8% is in line with the median of the other companies selected (4.5%).
  • It trades at a lower P/E than the median of the other companies selected: 24.0x against 38.2x.
  • Its liabilities are higher relative to equity than the median of the other companies selected: 2.0x against 1.4x.

Measured against the other companies entered, from each one's latest annual filing. A difference describes the companies; it does not rank them.