Sifting through countless of stocks in the Machinery industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Xylem Inc. or Pentair plc because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc

Xylem Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and servicing of engineered products and solutions for utility, industrial, and residential and commercial building services settings worldwide. It operates through four segments: Water Infrastructure; Applied Water; Measurement and Control Solutions; and Water Solutions and Services. The company offers water, wastewater and storm water pumps, and controls and systems; filtration, disinfection, and biological treatment equipment under the Flygt, Ionpure, Vortisand, Wallace & Tiernan, and Wedeco brands; and pumps, valves, heat exchangers, controls and dispensing equipment used for water and focuses on the residential, commercial and industrial markets under the Rule, Bell & Gossett, Flojet, Goulds Water Technology, Jabsco, Lowara, and Standard Xchange brands. It also provides smart meters, network communication devices, data analytics, test instruments, controls, sensor devices, software and managed services, and critical infrastructure services; and software and services including cloud-based analytics, and remote monitoring and data management under the Sensus, Smith Blair, WTW, YSI, and Xylem Vue brands. In addition, the company offers preventative maintenance services, rapid response mobile services, digitally enabled/outsourced solutions, process and wastewater treatment systems, environmental remediation, odor and corrosion control, filtration, reverse osmosis, continuous deionization, and mobile dewatering equipment and rental services; and municipal services comprising odor and corrosion control services, as well as leak detection, condition assessment and asset management and pressure monitoring solutions under the AquaPro, WaterOne, Ion Pure, Flygt, Pure Technologies, and Godwin brands. The company was formerly known as ITT WCO, Inc. and changed its name to Xylem Inc. in May 2011. Xylem Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Washington, District Of Columbia.

Pentair plc provides various water solutions in the United States, Western Europe, China, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, and Japan. The company operates through three segments: Flow, Water Solutions, and Pool. The Flow segment designs, manufactures, and sells fluid treatment and pump products and systems, including pressure vessels, gas recovery solutions, membrane bioreactors, wastewater reuse systems and advanced membrane filtration, separation systems, water disposal pumps, water supply pumps, fluid transfer pumps, turbine pumps, solid handling pumps, and agricultural spray nozzles. This segment provides products under Pentair Flow, Aurora, Berkeley, Codeline, Fairbanks-Nijhuis, Haffmans, Hydromatic, Hypro, Jung Pumpen, Myers, Sta-Rite, Shurflo, Südmo, and X-Flow brand names. The Water Solutions segment offers commercial and residential water treatment products and systems, such as pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, commercial ice machines, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use water treatment systems for use in water filtration and water softening solutions, as well as commercial water management and filtration solutions in foodservice operations; and installation and preventative services for water management solutions for commercial operators under the Pentair Water Solutions, Everpure, Fleck, KBI, Manitowoc Ice, Pentek, and RainSoft brand names. The Pool segment provides residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories, including pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for residential and commercial pool maintenance, pool repair, renovation, service, construction, and aquaculture solutions. This segment offers products under the Pentair Pool, Kreepy Krauly, Pleatco, and Sta-Rite brand. Pentair plc was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Latest Machinery and Xylem Inc., Pentair plc Stock News

As of February 23, 2026, Xylem Inc. had a $31.0 billion market capitalization, compared to the Machinery median of $4.0 million. Xylem Inc.’s stock is down 6.6% in 2026, down 0.6% in the previous five trading days and down 1.9% in the past year.

Currently, Xylem Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 32.8. Xylem Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $8.9 billion with a 10.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.508 per share for the current fiscal year. Xylem Inc. currently has a 1.4% dividend yield.

As of February 23, 2026, Pentair plc had a $16.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 84th percentile of all stocks. Pentair plc’s stock is down 2.4% in 2026, up 0.3% in the previous five trading days and up 6.73% in the past year.

Currently, Pentair plc’s price-earnings ratio is 25.9. Pentair plc’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.1 billion with a 15.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 2.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.338 per share for the current fiscal year. Pentair plc currently has a 1.1% dividend yield.

How We Compare Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Xylem Inc.	XYL	A
Pentair plc	PNR	B

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Xylem Inc. has a Growth Score of 85, which is Very Strong. Pentair plc has a Growth Score of 80, which is Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Xylem Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Xylem Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Pentair plc. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Xylem Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Xylem Inc.	XYL	A
Pentair plc	PNR	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Xylem Inc. has a Quality Score of 82, which is Very Strong. Pentair plc has a Quality Score of 92, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Xylem Inc.	XYL	D
Pentair plc	PNR	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Xylem Inc. has a Momentum Score of 33, which is Weak. Pentair plc has a Momentum Score of 42, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Xylem Inc. or Pentair plc has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Xylem Inc. or Pentair plc is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc Grades

In addition to Momentum, Growth and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Xylem Inc. or Pentair plc Stock?

Overall, Xylem Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 85, Momentum Score of 33 and Quality Score of 82.

Pentair plc stock has a Growth Score of 80, Momentum Score of 42 and Quality Score of 92.

Comparing Xylem Inc. and Pentair plc’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.