Quality Investor

Acme United Corporation

Rank #144Value

ACU · NYSE · Consumer Defensive

Acme United Corporation (ACU) — Rank #144 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.39) · ROE 8.4% · Piotroski F-Score 7 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000002098 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Acme United Corporation supplies cutting, measuring, first aid, and sharpening products to the school, home, office, hardware, sporting goods, and industrial markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally.

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The company offers scissors, shears, knives, rulers, pencil sharpeners, paper trimmers, safety cutters, lettering products, glue guns, and other craft products under the Westcott brand name; and cutting tools under the Clauss brand. It also provides sharpening knives, scissors, chisels, skis, skates, and other edges under the DMT brand. In addition, the company offers first aid kits and safety solutions under the First Aid Only brand; portable eyewash solution and over-the-counter medication, including active ingredients aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen under the PhysiciansCare brand; bodily fluid and spill clean-up solution under the Spill Magic brand; various first aid kit, refill, and safety supplies, including CPR kits, burn kits, and automotive and emergency first aid kits under the First Aid Central; first aid kits for the promotional products industry under Safety Made brand; alcohol prep pads, alcohol wipes, benzalkonium chloride wipes, various antiseptic wipes under the Med-Nap brand, and Pac-Kit, as well as My Medic brands. It sells its products directly and through its independent manufacturer representatives to wholesale, contract, and retail stationery distributors; office supply superstores, mass market retailers, industrial and medical distributors, school supply distributors, drug store retailers, sporting goods stores, hardware chains, and wholesale florists, as well as through its websites. The company was formerly known as Acme Shear Company and changed its name to Acme United Corporation in 1971.

Acme United Corporation was founded in 1867 and is based in Shelton, Connecticut.

Industry
Household & Personal Products
Sector
Consumer Defensive
State
CT
Filer Category
Accelerated filerSmaller reporting company
Fiscal Year End
December 31

Price History

ACU+62.7% · +10.2% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and dividend yield are the primary valuation lenses for mature businesses.

Market Cap

$233.23M

P/E (annual)

24.4

P/S (annual)

1.2

P/B

1.9

P/OCF (annual)

12.8

Shareholder Yield

1.3%

Employees

649

Industry

Household & Personal Products

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

2 green1 yellow
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.39
Return on equity
8.4%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.65
Current ratio
3.23×
Net cash
-$17.60M

Cash Flow

2/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
WARN
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
1.0%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
1.1%
Piotroski F-Score
7 / 9
Share dilution
-0.3%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 0/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

14.4%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -0.3% — per-share value needs a total required return of 14.2% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 4.0%

priced above its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

9.7%

r = 10% (base)

14.4%

r = 12%

18.5%

Net debt / market cap: 7.1%

Base FCF: $7.6M3Y mean FCF: $12.2M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

17.3xExpensive
8.2xmed 15.2x30.4x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

0.9xExpensive
0.4xmed 0.7x0.9x

P / B

Price / book value per share

1.5xFair
1.2xmed 1.5x2.2x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

2.3xExpensive
1.2xmed 2.0x2.3x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

23.3xFair
5.7xmed 27.7x48.4x

Dividend yield and payout ratio are the primary reads at this stage (trailing P/E — see valuation above).

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.39

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

3rd of 15 SIC 34 peers

Return on equity

8.4%

Gross margin

39.4%

6th of 15 SIC 34 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

1.1%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

0.4%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

3.7%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

49.7%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.65

6th of 15 SIC 34 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

3.23×

4th of 15 SIC 34 peers

Quick ratio

1.26×

Net cash

-$17.60M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$7.58M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

-0.26

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

WARN

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

1.0%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.8 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
23.0%5/5 Strong
FCF coverage
3.23×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
5 yr3/5 Good
Balance-sheet health
D/E 0.65 · IC N/A2/5 Fair

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

7 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Capital Return
Value