CGNT vs RELX vs MSA Stock Comparison

Cognyte Software, Relx and MSA Safety Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CGNT Cognyte Software Ltd.
$9.97 +17.0% 1M +19.0% 1Y
Market cap
$742.22M
P/E
212.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$421.71M
Div. yield
–
Analytics and BI Technology
2 wins
RELX Relx Plc
$40.17 +19.9% 1M -13.7% 1Y
Market cap
$71.51B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Analytics and BI Technology
2 wins
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$182.59 +0.1% 1M +8.6% 1Y
Market cap
$6.94B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 5, Relx 2, Cognyte Software 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCGNTRELXMSALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $742.22M $71.51B $6.94B RELX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 212.7x — 22.1x MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.8x 22.2x 19.6x MSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.0% — +6.5% CGNT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.8% — 16.1% MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 15.9% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 0.8x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.0% -13.7% +8.6% CGNT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -13.7%/yr +5.3%/yr +3.7%/yr RELX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 52.2% 35.3% 25.5% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 — 77/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

CGNTRELXMSA

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

AxisCGNTRELXMSA
Valuation 57 #44 of 102 – 55 #91 of 203
Growth 89 #12 of 98 – 86 #27 of 187
Profitability 64 #35 of 95 – 97 #7 of 185
Financial Health 60 #44 of 109 19 #89 of 109 76 #53 of 219
Shareholder Returns 14 #55 of 64 52 #31 of 64 73 #42 of 153
Overall 57 – 77
  • CGNT ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • RELX ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCGNTRELXMSASPY
1 month +17.0%+19.9%+0.1% -0.8%
3 months +14.5%+12.7%+4.0% +3.5%
6 months +5.6%+10.4%+6.8% +7.0%
Year to date +6.1%-0.6%+14.0% +12.2%
1 year +19.0%-13.7%+8.6% +13.0%
3 years +148.0%+17.9%+15.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +35.4%+5.6%+5.0% +23.1%
5 years -52.2%+29.7%+20.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year -13.7%+5.3%+3.7% +11.0%
10 years —+126.3%+228.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+8.5%+12.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCGNTRELXMSASPY
Volatility, 1Y 52.2%35.3%25.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 56.6%36.0%24.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.310.200.82 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.36-0.390.34 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -89.3%-50.2%-34.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.5%-13.9%-10.1% -1.8%
52-week high $12.24$46.64$203.08 $779.14
52-week low $6.34$27.73$152.94 $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.

MultipleCGNTRELXMSA
P/E now vs peer median 208.3xmedian 28.8x —median 28.8x 22.5xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.8x —median 2.8x 3.6xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.3xmedian 17.7x —median 17.7x 15.3xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.2xmedian 15.8x —median 15.8x 19.9xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 3.2x 43.9xmedian 3.2x 5.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 7.73median 0.85 —median 0.85 0.12median 1.26

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 monthsCGNTRELXMSA
Revenue $421.71M – $1.95B
Gross profit $307.70M – $925.88M
Operating income $17.43M – $413.17M
Net income $4.85M – $314.01M
Free cash flow $28.96M – $354.30M
R&D $127.59M – $68.19M
EPS (diluted) $0.05 – $8.11
Cash & equivalents $102.17M $291.59M $200.06M
Total debt – $3.11B $599.74M
Shares (diluted) 72.91M 1.84B 38.70M
Enterprise value $307.40M $70.61B $6.22B

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
MetricCGNTRELXMSA
P/E 208.3x – 22.5x
P/FCF 25.2x – 19.9x
P/Operating cash flow 17.6x – 17.4x
P/S 1.7x – 3.6x
P/B 3.3x 43.9x 5.0x
P/Tangible book 3.4x -29.7x 6.3x
EV/EBITDA 21.3x – 15.3x
EV/EBIT 35.9x – 18.0x
EV/Revenue 1.5x – 3.8x
EV/FCF 21.6x – 21.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.1x – 18.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 7.73 – 0.12

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCGNTRELXMSA
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.0% – 6.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.7% – 5.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.3% – 8.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 17.1% – 6.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 406.0% – 10.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 31.9% – 34.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 202.7% – 13.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 27.4% – 186.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 201.4% – 15.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.9% – 188.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 56.8% – 26.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 38.0% – 96.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 53.0% – 40.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 66.3% – 72.1%

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCGNTRELXMSA
Debt / assets – 15.6% 23.1%
Debt / equity – 1.9x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 0.8x
Debt / FCF – – 1.7x
Liabilities / assets 56.6% 91.7% 46.1%
Equity / assets 43.4% 8.3% 53.9%
Interest coverage 113.9x – 12.7x
Current ratio 1.3x – 3.2x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.4x 1.9x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.0x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 2.22 – 5.99

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCGNTRELXMSA
Dividend yield – 2.3% 1.2%
Net buyback yield -2.8% – 1.8%
Shareholder yield -2.8% 2.3% 2.9%
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.

ConsensusCGNTRELXMSA
Forward P/E 20.8xFY2026 22.2xFY2026 19.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.48FY2026 $1.81FY2026 $9.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +71.4%FY2026 +3.4%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +68.8% +19.9% +3.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $426.78MFY2026 $13.79BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.7%FY2026 +5.4%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.3% +0.4% +19.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCGNTRELXMSA
Held by institutions 67.2% 4.7% 91.0%
Institutions holding 133 439 457
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.8% +0.2% +3.0%
Institutions buying 75 220 236
Institutions selling 33 157 147
Buyers to sellers 2.27 1.40 1.61

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.

CGNTRELXMSA
CGNT 1.00 0.33 -0.03
RELX 0.33 1.00 -0.01
MSA -0.03 -0.01 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CGNT, RELX and MSA?

Relx (RELX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cognyte Software (CGNT) $742.22M, Relx (RELX) $71.51B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.94B.

Which stock is cheaper, CGNT, RELX and MSA?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cognyte Software (CGNT) 212.7x, MSA Safety (MSA) 22.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, MSA Safety (MSA) is cheapest (Cognyte Software (CGNT) 20.8x, Relx (RELX) 22.2x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.6x). 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%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cognyte Software (CGNT) returned the most: Cognyte Software (CGNT) +19.0%, Relx (RELX) -13.7%, MSA Safety (MSA) +8.6%. Over five years, Relx (RELX) compounded fastest (Cognyte Software (CGNT) -13.7%/yr, Relx (RELX) +5.3%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (Cognyte Software (CGNT) 52.2%, Relx (RELX) 35.3%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 5. 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.