Top Industrials Stocks by Return on Equity
Top industrials companies ranked by return on equity, latest annual filings.
What Return on Equity Means for Industrials Companies
Return on Equity divides net income by shareholder equity. In industrials, the ratio tends to move cyclically with the broader capital spending environment, peaking mid-cycle when pricing, volume, and operating leverage all coincide, and compressing in downturns as fixed costs absorb a shrinking revenue base. A single-year Return on Equity figure can badly mislead if it happens to be read at either a peak or trough.
Why It Matters Less in Industrials
A high industrial Return on Equity can reflect durable operating leverage on volume, yet the ratio is inherently cycle-dependent, so point-in-time readings are noisy. Many industrial firms carry meaningful debt tied to long-cycle projects, which inflates the ratio relative to deleveraged peers. Multi-year averages across at least one full cycle produce a more faithful picture of capital efficiency than any single reporting year in isolation.
What to Read Alongside
Pair Return on Equity with Net Income to see the numerator through the cycle, Long-term Debt to gauge the leverage contribution inside the ratio, and Gross Margin to judge underlying earnings quality.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VRSK | Verisk Analytics, Inc. | Industrials | 293.95% | $26.25B |
| 2 | TNET | TriNet Group, Inc. | Industrials | 287.04% | $3.05B |
| 3 | FTAI | FTAI Aviation Ltd. | Industrials | 142.89% | $18.43B |
| 4 | ENR | Energizer Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 140.67% | $1.63B |
| 5 | LTM | LATAM Airlines Group S.A. | Industrials | 108.50% | $13.60B |
| 6 | ITW | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | Industrials | 95.07% | $79.85B |
| 7 | RELX | RELX PLC | Industrials | 87.28% | $69.71B |
| 8 | BAH | Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation | Industrials | 77.01% | $10.16B |
| 9 | LMT | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Industrials | 74.65% | $131.00B |
| 10 | BCO | The Brink's Company | Industrials | 71.91% | $4.54B |
| 11 | LII | Lennox International Inc. | Industrials | 69.28% | $11.70B |
| 12 | MMM | 3M Company | Industrials | 69.12% | $95.49B |
| 13 | GFF | Griffon Corporation | Industrials | 69.09% | $4.58B |
| 14 | WNC | Wabash National Corporation | Industrials | 57.56% | $444.46M |
| 15 | GFL | GFL Environmental Inc. | Industrials | 52.50% | $20.20B |
| 16 | BLBD | Blue Bird Corporation | Industrials | 50.00% | $1.98B |
| 17 | GE | GE Aerospace | Industrials | 46.60% | $335.38B |
| 18 | GWW | W.W. Grainger, Inc. | Industrials | 45.66% | $67.45B |
| 19 | GEV | GE Vernova Inc. | Industrials | 43.69% | $204.89B |
| 20 | PAC | Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, S.A.B. de C.V. | Industrials | 42.57% | $14.79B |
| 21 | FIX | Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | Industrials | 41.76% | $35.81B |
| 22 | CAT | Caterpillar Inc. | Industrials | 41.67% | $255.63B |
| 23 | CSL | Carlisle Companies Incorporated | Industrials | 41.26% | $14.52B |
| 24 | BA | The Boeing Company | Industrials | 40.98% | $137.41B |
| 25 | CTAS | Cintas Corporation | Industrials | 38.91% | $88.29B |
| 26 | UNP | Union Pacific Corporation | Industrials | 38.65% | $172.38B |
| 27 | LECO | Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 35.42% | $14.91B |
| 28 | EME | EMCOR Group, Inc. | Industrials | 34.64% | $26.64B |
| 29 | IESC | IES Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 34.61% | $6.72B |
| 30 | EXPD | Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. | Industrials | 34.40% | $23.84B |
| 31 | UPS | United Parcel Service, Inc. | Industrials | 34.34% | $92.21B |
| 32 | POOL | Pool Corporation | Industrials | 34.29% | $7.56B |
| 33 | AWI | Armstrong World Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 34.27% | $7.16B |
| 34 | TT | Trane Technologies plc | Industrials | 34.02% | $87.94B |
| 35 | HON | Honeywell International Inc. | Industrials | 34.01% | $69.74B |
| 36 | VRT | Vertiv Holdings Co | Industrials | 33.82% | $70.41B |
| 37 | FERG | Ferguson Enterprises Inc. | Industrials | 32.41% | $45.21B |
| 38 | ECG | Everus Construction Group, Inc. | Industrials | 32.04% | $3.91B |
| 39 | FAST | Fastenal Company | Industrials | 31.91% | $60.80B |
| 40 | CHRW | C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. | Industrials | 31.81% | $14.53B |
| 41 | ALLE | Allegion plc | Industrials | 31.14% | $15.76B |
| 42 | VLTO | Veralto Corporation | Industrials | 30.27% | $28.47B |
| 43 | AOS | A. O. Smith Corporation | Industrials | 29.40% | $8.67B |
| 44 | POWL | Powell Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 28.21% | $4.85B |
| 45 | HWM | Howmet Aerospace Inc. | Industrials | 28.17% | $81.84B |
| 46 | KFRC | Kforce Inc. | Industrials | 27.95% | $969.72M |
| 47 | URI | United Rentals, Inc. | Industrials | 27.81% | $65.36B |
| 48 | ASR | Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. | Industrials | 27.65% | $7.91B |
| 49 | KBR | KBR, Inc. | Industrials | 27.61% | $4.69B |
| 50 | WM | Waste Management, Inc. | Industrials | 27.11% | $93.95B |
| 51 | BWXT | BWX Technologies, Inc. | Industrials | 26.69% | $10.95B |
| 52 | STRL | Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. | Industrials | 26.17% | $7.71B |
| 53 | ULS | UL Solutions Inc. | Industrials | 25.75% | $15.88B |
| 54 | DCI | Donaldson Company, Inc. | Industrials | 25.72% | $9.77B |
| 55 | JCI | Johnson Controls International plc | Industrials | 25.46% | $81.79B |
| 56 | NOC | Northrop Grumman Corporation | Industrials | 25.08% | $74.59B |
| 57 | CPA | Copa Holdings, S.A. | Industrials | 24.20% | $5.83B |
| 58 | DAL | Delta Air Lines, Inc. | Industrials | 24.00% | $57.37B |
| 59 | MLI | Mueller Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 23.84% | $11.54B |
| 60 | CRS | Carpenter Technology Corporation | Industrials | 23.78% | $13.79B |
| 61 | ROK | Rockwell Automation, Inc. | Industrials | 23.78% | $41.74B |
| 62 | ODFL | Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. | Industrials | 23.75% | $33.98B |
| 63 | AZZ | AZZ Inc. | Industrials | 23.73% | $3.76B |
| 64 | PH | Parker-Hannifin Corporation | Industrials | 23.68% | $115.73B |
| 65 | TRN | Trinity Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 23.50% | $2.30B |
| 66 | HUBB | Hubbell Incorporated | Industrials | 23.05% | $22.69B |
| 67 | CMI | Cummins Inc. | Industrials | 23.02% | $62.02B |
| 68 | GIC | Global Industrial Company | Industrials | 23.02% | $1.77B |
| 69 | WMS | Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. | Industrials | 22.94% | $9.37B |
| 70 | BBSI | Barrett Business Services, Inc. | Industrials | 22.59% | $716.77M |
| 71 | ACM | AECOM | Industrials | 22.54% | $8.59B |
| 72 | ATI | ATI Inc. | Industrials | 22.41% | $23.88B |
| 73 | AIT | Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. | Industrials | 22.27% | $10.35B |
| 74 | CNM | Core & Main, Inc. | Industrials | 22.08% | $8.48B |
| 75 | CSX | CSX Corporation | Industrials | 21.96% | $90.99B |
| 76 | UAL | United Airlines Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 21.94% | $36.63B |
| 77 | CNI | Canadian National Railway Company | Industrials | 21.88% | $74.40B |
| 78 | KMT | Kennametal Inc. | Industrials | 21.81% | $1.77B |
| 79 | TTC | The Toro Company | Industrials | 21.75% | $9.92B |
| 80 | RYAAY | Ryanair Holdings plc | Industrials | 21.52% | $30.71B |
| 81 | VMI | Valmont Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 21.45% | $7.74B |
| 82 | ETN | Eaton Corporation plc | Industrials | 21.04% | $132.76B |
| 83 | QUAD | Quad/Graphics, Inc. | Industrials | 21.00% | $387.49M |
| 84 | AER | AerCap Holdings N.V. | Industrials | 20.47% | $25.76B |
| 85 | MSA | MSA Safety Incorporated | Industrials | 20.40% | $6.55B |
| 86 | HURN | Huron Consulting Group Inc. | Industrials | 19.87% | $2.63B |
| 87 | PRG | PROG Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 19.67% | $1.47B |
| 88 | GGG | Graco Inc. | Industrials | 19.66% | $10.88B |
| 89 | MWA | Mueller Water Products, Inc. | Industrials | 19.53% | $3.74B |
| 90 | DE | Deere & Company | Industrials | 19.37% | $181.09B |
| 91 | CW | Curtiss-Wright Corporation | Industrials | 19.11% | $16.81B |
| 92 | MMS | Maximus, Inc. | Industrials | 19.06% | $3.43B |
| 93 | NVT | nVent Electric plc | Industrials | 19.04% | $17.16B |
| 94 | NSC | Norfolk Southern Corporation | Industrials | 18.48% | $71.86B |
| 95 | TREX | Trex Company, Inc. | Industrials | 18.41% | $5.47B |
| 96 | MYRG | MYR Group Inc. | Industrials | 17.93% | $4.09B |
| 97 | SUNB | Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 17.88% | $31.57B |
| 98 | RSG | Republic Services, Inc. | Industrials | 17.87% | $75.20B |
| 99 | WSO | Watsco, Inc. | Industrials | 17.87% | $12.67B |
| 100 | AYI | Acuity Inc. | Industrials | 17.86% | $9.67B |
No companies match this search.
Companies with return on equity above 500%, or shareholder equity below 1% of total assets, are excluded: when equity is near zero the ratio becomes unstable and unrepresentative. Ratio rankings also require at least $1B in annual revenue.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by return on equity as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $1 billion in annual revenue or above, so a small filer with a freak ratio cannot top the list.
- Value range: Only figures above 0% and up to 500% qualify.
- Market cap: stated at each company's latest close, which is newer than the annual figure ranked here.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Why is industrial Return on Equity especially sensitive to the cycle?
Industrial firms carry significant fixed costs tied to manufacturing capacity, and small changes in revenue translate into outsized changes in net income through operating leverage. Return on Equity thus moves with the cycle amplitude, peaking when volumes, pricing, and absorption all align and compressing sharply when any of those deteriorates. Evaluating industrial Return on Equity requires knowing roughly where in the capital spending cycle the reading was taken, which is why multi-year averages are more reliable.
How does backlog affect the reliability of industrial Return on Equity?
Deep backlogs provide forward revenue visibility and smooth the cycle somewhat, but they also commit a firm to execute at prices negotiated in an earlier environment. A backlog priced at peak margins will convert into reported Return on Equity over subsequent quarters even as underlying conditions shift. Reading Return on Equity alongside disclosed backlog pricing and book-to-bill ratios helps separate durable capital efficiency from the residual effects of favorable past orders working through the income statement.
Why can leverage distort cross-firm industrial Return on Equity comparisons?
Industrial firms finance long-lived capital projects with a mix of debt and equity, and capital structures vary widely depending on balance sheet philosophy. A firm with aggressive leverage will report higher Return on Equity than a deleveraged peer even when underlying operating efficiency is identical, because borrowed capital funds part of the asset base. DuPont decomposition separates the leverage contribution from the operating contribution, giving a more honest like-for-like comparison.