EMR vs MSA vs RELX Stock Comparison

Emerson Electric, MSA Safety and Relx Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EMR Emerson Electric Co
$166.25 +5.2% 1M +23.6% 1Y
Market cap
$92.73B
P/E
36.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.64B
Div. yield
1.34%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
3 wins
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$179.23 -1.8% 1M +7.5% 1Y
Market cap
$6.92B
P/E
22.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
1.19%
Power Tools Industrials
8 wins
RELX Relx Plc
$38.99 +16.4% 1M -16.4% 1Y
Market cap
$70.93B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
2.33%
Analytics and BI Technology
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 8, Emerson Electric 3, Relx 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionEMRMSARELXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $92.73B $6.92B $70.93B EMR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 36.0x 22.0x — MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.6x 19.2x 21.5x MSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.8% +6.5% — MSA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.8% 16.1% — MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.9% 15.9% — MSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 0.8x — MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.34% 1.19% 2.33% RELX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +23.6% +7.5% -16.4% EMR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +11.3%/yr +3.2%/yr +4.6%/yr EMR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.8% 25.5% 35.3% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 45/100 78/100 — MSA

Percentile Scorecard

EMRMSARELX

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

AxisEMRMSARELX
Valuation 34 #134 of 203 58 #86 of 203 –
Growth 40 #114 of 188 86 #27 of 188 –
Profitability 86 #26 of 183 97 #6 of 183 –
Financial Health 29 #154 of 217 76 #54 of 217 18 #89 of 108
Shareholder Returns 36 #99 of 153 74 #40 of 153 52 #31 of 64
Overall 45 78 –
  • EMR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • RELX ranked among 114 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodEMRMSARELXSPY
1 month +5.2%-1.8%+16.4% -0.2%
3 months +9.5%-0.3%+3.3% +3.9%
6 months +20.1%+7.2%+8.3% +8.2%
Year to date +25.3%+11.9%-3.5% +12.9%
1 year +23.6%+7.5%-16.4% +12.3%
3 years +88.9%+13.7%+14.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year +23.6%+4.4%+4.6% +23.3%
5 years +70.5%+16.9%+25.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +11.3%+3.2%+4.6% +10.9%
10 years +233.6%+224.9%+116.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +12.8%+12.5%+8.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureEMRMSARELXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.8%25.5%35.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 33.5%24.1%36.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.540.810.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.740.29-0.46 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -29.9%-34.9%-50.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-11.7%-16.4% -1.2%
52-week high $166.25$203.08$46.64 $779.14
52-week low $123.30$152.94$27.73 $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.

MultipleEMRMSARELX
P/E now vs peer median 36.0xmedian 25.2x 22.0xmedian 25.2x —median 28.3x
P/S now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 1.9x 3.6xmedian 1.9x —median 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.8xmedian 14.0x 15.0xmedian 14.0x —median 17.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.8xmedian 21.7x 19.5xmedian 21.7x —median 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 4.5xmedian 2.3x 4.9xmedian 2.3x 42.6xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median -0.87median 1.32 0.12median 1.32 —median 0.85

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 monthsEMRMSARELX
Revenue $18.64B $1.95B –
Gross profit $9.91B $925.88M –
Operating income $4.68B $413.17M –
Net income $2.58B $314.01M –
Free cash flow $3.46B $354.30M –
R&D – $68.19M –
EPS (diluted) $4.59 $8.11 –
Cash & equivalents $2.18B $200.06M $291.59M
Total debt $13.11B $599.74M $3.11B
Shares (diluted) 561.10M 38.70M 1.84B
Enterprise value $85.49B $6.20B $70.04B

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
MetricEMRMSARELX
P/E 36.0x 22.0x –
P/FCF 26.8x 19.5x –
P/Operating cash flow 23.7x 17.0x –
P/S 5.0x 3.6x –
P/B 4.5x 4.9x 42.6x
P/Tangible book 7.9x 6.2x -28.8x
EV/EBITDA 16.8x 15.0x –
EV/EBIT 22.2x 17.7x –
EV/Revenue 5.6x 3.8x –
EV/FCF 29.9x 20.7x –
EV/Operating cash flow 26.5x 18.0x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.87 0.12 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricEMRMSARELX
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.8% 6.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 5.2% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.7% 8.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 6.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 9.2% 10.8% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 13.6% 34.5% –
Net income growth (1Y) -3.0% 13.4% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -42.0% 186.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) -2.2% 15.3% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -41.6% 188.5% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 4.4% 26.3% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.1% 96.0% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 4.4% 40.3% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.4% 72.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricEMRMSARELX
Gross margin 53.2% 47.6% –
EBITDA margin 33.1% 25.1% –
Operating margin 25.1% 21.2% –
Pretax margin 17.6% 21.1% –
Net margin 13.8% 16.1% –
FCF margin 18.6% 18.2% –
Operating cash flow margin 21.0% 20.9% –
Return on equity 12.7% 22.8% –
Return on assets 6.1% 12.2% –
Return on invested capital 10.9% 15.9% –
Return on capital employed 14.9% 18.0% –
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.8x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% 1.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricEMRMSARELX
Debt / assets 31.1% 23.1% 15.6%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.4x 1.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 0.8x –
Debt / FCF 3.8x 1.7x –
Liabilities / assets 51.7% 46.1% 91.7%
Equity / assets 48.3% 53.9% 8.3%
Interest coverage – 12.7x –
Current ratio 0.9x 3.2x –
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.9x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.7x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 4.71 5.92 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricEMRMSARELX
Dividend yield 1.3% 1.2% 2.3%
Net buyback yield 1.0% 1.8% –
Shareholder yield 2.3% 3.0% 2.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 47.8% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 35.6% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.1% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 0.7% – –

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.

ConsensusEMRMSARELX
Forward P/E 24.6xFY2026 19.2xFY2026 21.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.75FY2026 $9.33FY2026 $1.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +12.5%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +3.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.3% +3.4% +19.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.13BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026 $13.79BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.6%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026 +5.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +15.3% +19.6% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersEMRMSARELX
Held by institutions 82.1% 91.0% 4.7%
Institutions holding 2,290 457 439
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.9% +3.0% +0.2%
Institutions buying 1,080 236 220
Institutions selling 798 147 157
Buyers to sellers 1.35 1.61 1.40

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.

EMRMSARELX
EMR 1.00 0.48 0.00
MSA 0.48 1.00 -0.01
RELX 0.00 -0.01 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EMR, MSA and RELX?

Emerson Electric (EMR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Emerson Electric (EMR) $92.73B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.92B, Relx (RELX) $70.93B.

Which stock is cheaper, EMR, MSA and RELX?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Emerson Electric (EMR) 36.0x, MSA Safety (MSA) 22.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, MSA Safety (MSA) is cheapest (Emerson Electric (EMR) 24.6x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.2x, Relx (RELX) 21.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

MSA Safety (MSA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Emerson Electric (EMR) +4.8%, MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (Emerson Electric (EMR) 13.8%, MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%). On return on invested capital, MSA Safety (MSA) leads (Emerson Electric (EMR) 10.9%, MSA Safety (MSA) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Emerson Electric (EMR) returned the most: Emerson Electric (EMR) +23.6%, MSA Safety (MSA) +7.5%, Relx (RELX) -16.4%. Over five years, Emerson Electric (EMR) compounded fastest (Emerson Electric (EMR) +11.3%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.2%/yr, Relx (RELX) +4.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Relx (RELX) has the highest dividend yield: Emerson Electric (EMR) 1.34%, MSA Safety (MSA) 1.19%, Relx (RELX) 2.33%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (Emerson Electric (EMR) 31.8%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%, Relx (RELX) 35.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 8. 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.