Acme United Corporation (ACU) Key Metrics
ACU valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $235.9M
- Enterprise value
- $274.0M
- P/E (TTM)
- 25.8 10-yr median 15.1
- Forward P/E
- 14.0
- PEG ratio
- 1.54
- Price / sales
- 1.1 10-yr median 0.7
- Price / book
- 2.0 10-yr median 1.5
- EV / EBITDA
- 12.8 10-yr median 9.3
- Dividend yield
- 1.04% $0.64 a year
- Beta
- 0.41
ACU key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsACU valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
ACU returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
ACU per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
ACU financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
ACU efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
ACU valuation history
ACU returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
ACU debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
ACU cash returned to shareholders
ACU price vs earnings per share
ACU key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $164.7M | $153.0M | $156.8M | $81.5M | $133.3M | $105.7M | $82.1M | $50.5M | $87.2M | $91.5M |
| Enterprise value | $189.9M | $179.5M | $177.5M | $138.8M | $175.9M | $149.3M | $114.7M | $90.1M | $125.3M | $118.5M |
| P/E ratio | 16.2 | 15.3 | 8.8 | 26.8 | 9.8 | 13.1 | 14.9 | 11.0 | 21.5 | 15.6 |
| Price / sales | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Price / book | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
| Price / free cash flow | 21.7 | 31.7 | 6.6 | — | — | 33.5 | 6.3 | 40.6 | — | 13.0 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 9.0 | 12.8 | 5.4 | 28.2 | 25.9 | 18.5 | 5.6 | 11.3 | 18.1 | 10.3 |
| EV / sales | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| EV / EBITDA | 9.0 | 8.8 | 5.7 | 13.0 | 8.7 | 10.3 | 9.7 | 8.5 | 11.7 | 11.0 |
| EV / free cash flow | 25.1 | 37.2 | 7.4 | — | — | 47.4 | 8.8 | 72.4 | — | 16.9 |
| Earnings yield | 6.2% | 6.5% | 11.3% | 3.7% | 10.2% | 7.7% | 6.7% | 9.1% | 4.6% | 6.4% |
| Free cash flow yield | 4.6% | 3.2% | 15.3% | −2.1% | −0.9% | 3.0% | 15.9% | 2.5% | −2.7% | 7.7% |
| Dividend yield | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 2.3% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 2.0% | 2.9% | 1.6% | 1.5% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 2.3% | 2.5% | 1.8% | 4.0% | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2.4% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $40.31 | $37.33 | $42.86 | $21.90 | $33.70 | $30.13 | $23.79 | $14.25 | $23.40 | $25.57 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $48.09 | $47.45 | $52.36 | $52.15 | $46.04 | $46.73 | $41.26 | $38.77 | $35.05 | $34.82 |
| Earnings per share | $2.49 | $2.45 | $4.86 | $0.82 | $3.45 | $2.31 | $1.60 | $1.30 | $1.09 | $1.64 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $4.46 | $2.92 | $7.90 | $0.78 | $1.30 | $1.63 | $4.26 | $1.26 | $1.29 | $2.48 |
| Free cash flow per share | $1.85 | $1.18 | $6.54 | −$0.46 | −$0.31 | $0.90 | $3.77 | $0.35 | −$0.63 | $1.96 |
| Cash per share | $0.88 | $1.56 | $1.31 | $1.64 | $1.22 | $1.19 | $1.98 | $1.24 | $2.51 | $1.65 |
| Book value per share | $28.78 | $26.10 | $26.77 | $21.25 | $19.49 | $17.87 | $16.13 | $14.77 | $13.41 | $12.89 |
| Tangible book value per share | $21.59 | $18.72 | $19.33 | $13.46 | $13.92 | $11.17 | $10.20 | $8.74 | $7.34 | $7.88 |
| Dividends per share | $0.57 | $0.54 | $0.54 | $0.51 | $0.45 | $0.46 | $0.47 | $0.42 | $0.38 | $0.37 |
| Capex per share | $2.61 | $1.74 | $1.36 | $1.24 | $1.61 | $0.73 | $0.49 | $0.91 | $1.92 | $0.51 |
| Debt per share | $7.03 | $8.01 | $6.98 | $17.05 | $12.01 | $13.60 | $11.42 | $12.42 | $12.73 | $9.21 |
| Shares outstanding | 4.1M | 4.1M | 3.7M | 3.7M | 4.0M | 3.5M | 3.5M | 3.5M | 3.7M | 3.6M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −0.3% | +12.1% | −1.7% | −6.0% | +12.7% | +1.6% | −2.5% | −4.9% | +4.1% | −3.0% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 9.1% | 9.8% | 20.1% | 3.9% | 19.5% | 13.7% | 10.2% | 9.0% | 8.4% | 13.1% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 8.3% | 9.1% | 8.1% | 4.1% | 10.2% | 9.7% | 7.9% | 6.9% | 6.1% | 9.4% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 6.0% | 6.4% | 11.3% | 2.0% | 10.0% | 6.7% | 5.0% | 4.1% | 3.9% | 6.7% |
| Return on tangible assets | 7.0% | 7.6% | 14.6% | 2.2% | 11.2% | 7.6% | 6.1% | 5.2% | 4.4% | 7.9% |
| Free cash flow margin | 3.9% | 2.5% | 12.5% | −0.9% | −0.7% | 1.9% | 9.1% | 0.9% | −1.8% | 5.6% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 1.79 | 1.19 | 1.62 | 0.95 | 0.38 | 0.71 | 2.67 | 0.97 | 1.19 | 1.51 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $28.7M | $32.8M | $25.5M | $63.4M | $47.5M | $47.7M | $39.4M | $44.0M | $47.4M | $32.9M |
| Cash & short-term investments | $3.6M | $6.4M | $4.8M | $6.1M | $4.8M | $4.2M | $6.8M | $4.4M | $9.3M | $5.9M |
| Net debt | $25.1M | $26.4M | $20.7M | $57.3M | $42.6M | $43.5M | $32.6M | $39.6M | $38.1M | $27.0M |
| Debt / equity | 0.24 | 0.31 | 0.26 | 0.80 | 0.62 | 0.76 | 0.71 | 0.84 | 0.95 | 0.71 |
| Debt / assets | 0.16 | 0.20 | 0.17 | 0.39 | 0.33 | 0.37 | 0.36 | 0.40 | 0.41 | 0.36 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.19 | 1.29 | 0.67 | 5.39 | 2.12 | 3.00 | 2.76 | 3.72 | 3.55 | 2.51 |
| Current ratio | 4.21 | 4.17 | 3.54 | 4.77 | 4.70 | 4.14 | 4.41 | 5.49 | 4.65 | 5.11 |
| Quick ratio | 1.59 | 1.71 | 1.41 | 1.91 | 2.06 | 1.63 | 2.04 | 2.40 | 2.27 | 2.20 |
| Interest coverage | 8.7 | 6.8 | 4.3 | 2.6 | 13.9 | 12.1 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 5.8 | 9.7 |
| Working capital | $73.3M | $72.6M | $66.0M | $83.5M | $75.0M | $63.5M | $56.6M | $60.0M | $61.3M | $52.6M |
| Invested capital | $142.7M | $133.4M | $118.6M | $136.4M | $119.7M | $106.3M | $88.3M | $91.9M | $88.0M | $73.1M |
| Tangible asset value | $88.2M | $76.7M | $70.7M | $50.1M | $55.1M | $39.2M | $35.2M | $31.0M | $27.4M | $28.2M |
| Net current asset value | $39.2M | $40.3M | $40.7M | $20.3M | $27.9M | $16.5M | $18.1M | $16.2M | $13.3M | $19.5M |
| Graham number | $40.17 | $37.89 | $54.13 | $19.75 | $38.91 | $30.46 | $24.08 | $20.77 | $18.11 | $21.78 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$0.40 | $0.13 | $0.24 | −$6.22 | −$2.55 | −$4.92 | −$2.75 | −$3.74 | −$4.27 | −$1.79 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $2.3M | $2.2M | $2.0M | $1.9M | $1.8M | $1.6M | $1.6M | $1.5M | $1.4M | $1.3M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1.5M | $286,988 | $1.7M | $365,149 | $0 | $907,094 |
| Dividend payout ratio | 23.0% | 22.2% | 11.2% | 62.7% | 13.1% | 19.8% | 29.2% | 32.3% | 34.8% | 22.8% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 30.9% | 46.0% | 8.3% | — | — | 60.0% | 25.3% | 148.7% | — | 31.9% |
| Capex / revenue | 5.4% | 3.7% | 2.6% | 2.4% | 3.5% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 2.4% | 5.5% | 1.5% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 58.4% | 59.7% | 17.2% | 159.2% | 124.0% | 44.9% | 11.4% | 72.2% | 148.5% | 20.8% |
| Capex / depreciation | 1.68 | 1.18 | 0.98 | 1.01 | 1.57 | 0.68 | 0.49 | 1.00 | 2.47 | 0.76 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| R&D / revenue | — | — | — | — | — | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| SG&A / revenue | 31.9% | 32.0% | 30.8% | 29.5% | 28.6% | 29.4% | 30.6% | 31.5% | 30.7% | 23.9% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 53.2 | 51.1 | 56.1 | 62.9 | 61.5 | 58.6 | 64.8 | 67.9 | 64.4 | 58.0 |
| Days of inventory on hand | 177.9 | 172.6 | 181.7 | 163.6 | 162.2 | 157.3 | 162.6 | 171.4 | 170.7 | 168.0 |
| Days payables outstanding | 26.2 | 32.6 | 34.6 | 27.3 | 25.8 | 25.0 | 29.6 | 40.3 | 40.8 | 32.3 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | 205.0 | 191.1 | 203.2 | 199.2 | 198.0 | 190.9 | 197.8 | 199.1 | 194.3 | 193.7 |
| Receivables turnover | 6.86 | 7.14 | 6.51 | 5.81 | 5.93 | 6.23 | 5.63 | 5.37 | 5.67 | 6.29 |
| Payables turnover | 13.96 | 11.19 | 10.55 | 13.38 | 14.15 | 14.61 | 12.33 | 9.06 | 8.94 | 11.29 |
| Inventory turnover | 2.05 | 2.11 | 2.01 | 2.23 | 2.25 | 2.32 | 2.24 | 2.13 | 2.14 | 2.17 |
| Asset turnover | 1.17 | 1.25 | 1.22 | 1.26 | 1.33 | 1.36 | 1.29 | 1.22 | 1.26 | 1.44 |
| Average receivables | $28.7M | $27.2M | $29.4M | $33.4M | $30.7M | $26.3M | $25.3M | $25.6M | $23.0M | $19.8M |
| Average payables | $8.5M | $10.6M | $11.3M | $9.7M | $8.3M | $7.1M | $7.3M | $9.6M | $9.2M | $7.0M |
| Average inventory | $58.1M | $55.9M | $59.4M | $58.4M | $52.1M | $45.0M | $40.3M | $40.7M | $38.7M | $36.4M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 16.8% | 18.6% | 18.2% | 17.6% | 15.3% | 18.1% | 18.5% | 19.5% | 19.7% | 19.5% |
Computed from ACU's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed March 11, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
ACU valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), Acme United traded at 16.2 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 15.1. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 25.8 and the forward P/E is 14.0. Acme United earned a return on equity of 9.1% and a return on invested capital of 8.3% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $28.7 million of debt and $3.6 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $25.1 million. It returned $2.3 million to shareholders: $2.3 million in dividends and $0 in share buybacks, 31% of free cash flow. The share count rose 14.2% from 3.6M to 4.1M over 9 years.
See the ACU income statement, the ACU chart for price history, or the ACU stock overview for the latest quote and news.
ACU key metrics FAQ
What is Acme United's P/E ratio?
Acme United's trailing P/E ratio is 25.8 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 14.0. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 16.2, compared with a 10-year median of 15.1.
What is Acme United's EV/EBITDA?
Acme United's enterprise value was 9.0 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $189.9 million, EBITDA $21.1 million); the current EV/EBITDA is 12.8.
What is Acme United's return on equity?
Acme United's return on equity (ROE) was 9.1% in fiscal 2025: net income of $10.2 million on average shareholders' equity of $112.3 million.
What is Acme United's ROIC?
Acme United's return on invested capital was 8.3% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does Acme United have?
Acme United had total debt of $28.7 million at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24 and $25.1 million of net debt (1.19 times EBITDA).
What is Acme United's dividend yield?
Acme United's forward dividend yield is 1.04%. Acme United paid $2.3 million in dividends in fiscal 2025 ($0.57 per share), a payout ratio of 23.0%.
What is Acme United's free cash flow yield?
Acme United generated $7.6 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 4.6% on its market value at year-end ($164.7 million).
What is Acme United's current ratio?
Acme United's current ratio was 4.21 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 4.21 times current liabilities.