CGNT vs MSA vs NEXN Stock Comparison

Cognyte Software, MSA Safety and Nexxen International Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CGNT Cognyte Software Ltd.
$9.97 +17.0% 1M +19.0% 1Y
Market cap
$728.59M
P/E
208.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$421.71M
Div. yield
–
Analytics and BI Technology
2 wins
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$182.59 +0.1% 1M +8.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.05B
P/E
22.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
1.17%
Power Tools Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 4, Nexxen International 3, Cognyte Software 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCGNTMSANEXNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $728.59M $7.05B $487.42M MSA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 208.3x 22.5x 0.1x NEXN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.8x 19.6x 8.7x NEXN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.0% +6.5% +3.0% CGNT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.8% 16.1% 950.3% NEXN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 15.9% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.8x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.17% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.0% +8.6% +0.9% CGNT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -13.7%/yr +3.7%/yr -14.7%/yr MSA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 52.2% 25.5% 45.0% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 73/100 77/100 72/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

CGNTMSANEXN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCGNTMSANEXN
Valuation 85 #7 of 41 62 #26 of 67 88 #12 of 90
Growth 97 #2 of 38 93 #5 of 54 35 #49 of 75
Profitability 80 #8 of 36 98 #2 of 53 81 #15 of 75
Financial Health 70 #15 of 48 70 #25 of 82 56 #44 of 99
Shareholder Returns 31 #10 of 14 62 #15 of 39 100 #1 of 36
Overall 73 77 72
  • CGNT ranked among 51 companies in Business Applications
  • MSA ranked among 82 companies in Machinery
  • NEXN ranked among 102 companies in Internet Platforms

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCGNTMSANEXNSPY
1 month +17.0%+0.1%-0.5% -0.8%
3 months +14.5%+4.0%-15.5% +3.5%
6 months +5.6%+6.8%+19.8% +7.0%
Year to date +6.1%+14.0%+32.4% +12.2%
1 year +19.0%+8.6%+0.9% +13.0%
3 years +148.0%+15.9%+168.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +35.4%+5.0%+39.1% +23.1%
5 years -52.2%+20.0%-54.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year -13.7%+3.7%-14.7% +11.0%
10 years —+228.8%— +258.0%
10 years, per year —+12.6%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCGNTMSANEXNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 52.2%25.5%45.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 56.6%24.1%51.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.310.820.74 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.360.340.02 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -89.3%-34.9%-84.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.5%-10.1%-20.9% -1.8%
52-week high $12.24$203.08$10.95 $779.14
52-week low $6.34$152.94$5.70 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCGNTMSANEXN
P/E now vs peer median 208.3xmedian 20.8x 22.5xmedian 22.6x 0.1xmedian 17.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.5x 3.6xmedian 1.9x 1.3xmedian 1.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.3xmedian 21.3x 15.3xmedian 13.4x 3.6xmedian 11.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 25.2x 19.9xmedian 20.5x 4.2xmedian 10.1x
P/B now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 2.1x 5.0xmedian 1.4x 1.0xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 7.73median 2.04 0.12median 0.76 0.00median 0.38

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCGNTMSANEXN
Revenue $421.71M $1.95B $382.86M
Gross profit $307.70M $925.88M $315.91M
Operating income $17.43M $413.17M $19.59M
Net income $4.85M $314.01M $13.07M
Free cash flow $28.96M $354.30M $115.13M
R&D $127.59M $68.19M $60.09M
EPS (diluted) $0.05 $8.11 $59.59
Cash & equivalents $102.17M $200.06M $132.04M
Total debt – $599.74M –
Shares (diluted) 72.91M 38.70M 61.06M
Enterprise value $317.93M $6.33B -$169.22M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCGNTMSANEXN
P/E 208.3x 22.5x 0.1x
P/FCF 25.2x 19.9x 4.2x
P/Operating cash flow 17.6x 17.4x 4.3x
P/S 1.7x 3.6x 1.3x
P/B 3.3x 5.0x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 3.4x 6.3x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA 21.3x 15.3x 3.6x
EV/EBIT 35.9x 18.0x 15.8x
EV/Revenue 1.5x 3.8x 0.8x
EV/FCF 21.6x 21.0x 2.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.1x 18.4x 2.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 7.73 0.12 0.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCGNTMSANEXN
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.0% 6.5% 3.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.7% 5.2% 4.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.3% 8.2% -0.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 17.1% 6.7% 5.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 406.0% 10.8% -63.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 31.9% 34.5% -4.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 202.7% 13.4% -73.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 27.4% 186.8% 38.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 201.4% 15.3% -51.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.9% 188.5% 38.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 56.8% 26.3% -11.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 38.0% 96.0% 41.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 53.0% 40.3% -6.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 66.3% 72.1% 48.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCGNTMSANEXN
Gross margin 73.0% 47.6% 82.5%
EBITDA margin 7.0% 25.1% 22.5%
Operating margin 4.1% 21.2% 5.1%
Pretax margin 3.1% 21.1% 2.2%
Net margin 0.8% 16.1% 950.3%
FCF margin 6.9% 18.2% 30.1%
Operating cash flow margin 9.8% 20.9% 29.7%
Return on equity 2.2% 22.8% 2.8%
Return on assets 0.9% 12.2% 1.7%
Return on invested capital – 15.9% –
Return on capital employed 5.9% 18.0% 4.1%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 8.5x 1.3x 8.7x
Stock comp / revenue 5.3% 1.0% 4.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCGNTMSANEXN
Debt / assets – 23.1% –
Debt / equity – 0.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.8x –
Debt / FCF – 1.7x –
Liabilities / assets 56.6% 46.1% 39.5%
Equity / assets 43.4% 53.9% 60.5%
Interest coverage 113.9x 12.7x 8.5x
Current ratio 1.3x 3.2x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.9x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.7x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 2.22 5.99 1.97

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCGNTMSANEXN
Dividend yield – 1.2% –
Net buyback yield -2.8% 1.8% 34.2%
Shareholder yield -2.8% 2.9% 34.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCGNTMSANEXN
Forward P/E 20.8xFY2026 19.6xFY2026 8.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.48FY2026 $9.33FY2026 $1.00FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +71.4%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +68.8% +3.4% +27.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $426.78MFY2026 $1.98BFY2026 $373.87MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.7%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.3% +19.6% +8.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCGNTMSANEXN
Held by institutions 67.2% 91.0% 62.6%
Institutions holding 133 457 126
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.8% +3.0% +7.7%
Institutions buying 75 236 79
Institutions selling 33 147 30
Buyers to sellers 2.27 1.61 2.63

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CGNTMSANEXN
CGNT 1.00 -0.03 0.24
MSA -0.03 1.00 -0.02
NEXN 0.24 -0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CGNT, MSA and NEXN?

MSA Safety (MSA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cognyte Software (CGNT) $728.59M, MSA Safety (MSA) $7.05B, Nexxen International (NEXN) $487.42M.

Which stock is cheaper, CGNT, MSA and NEXN?

Nexxen International (NEXN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cognyte Software (CGNT) 208.3x, MSA Safety (MSA) 22.5x, Nexxen International (NEXN) 0.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nexxen International (NEXN) is cheapest (Cognyte Software (CGNT) 20.8x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.6x, Nexxen International (NEXN) 8.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cognyte Software (CGNT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cognyte Software (CGNT) +12.0%, MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%, Nexxen International (NEXN) +3.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Nexxen International (NEXN) has the highest net margin (Cognyte Software (CGNT) 0.8%, MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%, Nexxen International (NEXN) 950.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cognyte Software (CGNT) returned the most: Cognyte Software (CGNT) +19.0%, MSA Safety (MSA) +8.6%, Nexxen International (NEXN) +0.9%. Over five years, MSA Safety (MSA) compounded fastest (Cognyte Software (CGNT) -13.7%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.7%/yr, Nexxen International (NEXN) -14.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: MSA Safety (MSA) 1.17%. Cognyte Software (CGNT) and Nexxen International (NEXN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (Cognyte Software (CGNT) 52.2%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%, Nexxen International (NEXN) 45.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CGNT, MSA and NEXN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, MSA Safety (MSA) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.