ESAB vs EMR vs MSA Stock Comparison

Esab, Emerson Electric and MSA Safety Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ESAB ESAB Corp
$66.94 -0.7% 1M -45.7% 1Y
Market cap
$4.14B
P/E
24.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.00B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
2 wins
EMR Emerson Electric Co
$161.60 +4.6% 1M +21.3% 1Y
Market cap
$90.47B
P/E
35.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.64B
Div. yield
0.01%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
3 wins
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$182.35 -0.3% 1M +9.4% 1Y
Market cap
$7.07B
P/E
22.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 6, Emerson Electric 3, Esab 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionESABEMRMSALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.14B $90.47B $7.07B EMR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.2x 35.1x 22.5x MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.0x 24.0x 19.5x ESAB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +4.8% +6.5% ESAB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.7% 13.8% 16.1% MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.2% 10.9% 15.9% MSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.7x 1.8x 0.8x MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -45.7% +21.3% +9.4% EMR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +10.8%/yr +3.3%/yr EMR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.1% 31.7% 25.4% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 45/100 77/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

ESABEMRMSA

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

AxisESABEMRMSA
Valuation 61 #79 of 203 35 #133 of 203 55 #93 of 203
Growth 26 #140 of 188 40 #113 of 188 87 #25 of 188
Profitability 49 #96 of 187 85 #29 of 187 96 #8 of 187
Financial Health 21 #175 of 222 29 #158 of 222 76 #55 of 222
Shareholder Returns 22 #120 of 153 36 #99 of 153 72 #44 of 153
Overall 36 45 77
  • ESAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • EMR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodESABEMRMSASPY
1 month -0.7%+4.6%-0.3% -1.0%
3 months -20.7%+9.2%+4.4% +2.9%
6 months -33.9%+14.3%+7.4% +6.4%
Year to date -40.1%+21.8%+13.9% +11.4%
1 year -45.7%+21.3%+9.4% +13.1%
3 years +7.8%+78.1%+22.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +2.5%+21.2%+7.1% +21.5%
5 years —+67.2%+17.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year —+10.8%+3.3% +10.9%
10 years —+222.5%+216.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year —+12.4%+12.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureESABEMRMSASPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.1%31.7%25.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 46.0%33.3%24.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.791.520.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.990.670.37 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -52.3%-29.9%-34.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -50.3%-1.7%-10.2% -2.5%
52-week high $134.82$164.37$203.08 $779.14
52-week low $64.45$123.30$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.

MultipleESABEMRMSA
P/E now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 25.9x 35.0xmedian 25.9x 22.4xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.9x 4.8xmedian 1.9x 3.6xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.7xmedian 13.7x 16.4xmedian 13.7x 15.2xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.2xmedian 21.1x 26.0xmedian 21.1x 19.9xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 2.3x 4.4xmedian 2.3x 5.0xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -3.32median 1.19 -0.84median 1.19 0.12median 1.19

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 monthsESABEMRMSA
Revenue $3.00B $18.64B $1.95B
Gross profit $1.11B $9.91B $925.88M
Operating income $362.44M $4.68B $413.17M
Net income $178.52M $2.58B $314.01M
Free cash flow $196.61M $3.46B $354.30M
R&D – – $68.19M
EPS (diluted) $2.78 $4.59 $8.11
Cash & equivalents $217.49M $2.18B $200.06M
Total debt $2.40B $54.11B $599.74M
Shares (diluted) 61.63M 561.10M 38.70M
Enterprise value $2.51B $83.21B $6.35B

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
MetricESABEMRMSA
P/E 24.0x 35.0x 22.4x
P/FCF 21.2x 26.0x 19.9x
P/Operating cash flow 16.1x 23.0x 17.3x
P/S 1.4x 4.8x 3.6x
P/B 1.6x 4.4x 5.0x
P/Tangible book 3.4x 7.7x 6.3x
EV/EBITDA 13.7x 16.4x 15.2x
EV/EBIT 17.5x 21.6x 18.0x
EV/Revenue 2.1x 5.4x 3.8x
EV/FCF 32.3x 29.2x 21.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.5x 25.8x 18.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.32 -0.84 0.12

Growth

14 metrics
MetricESABEMRMSA
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 4.8% 6.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.7% 7.6% 5.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.4% 5.7% 8.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 11.0% 6.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -16.9% 9.2% 10.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.3% 13.6% 34.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -32.0% -3.0% 13.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -6.2% -42.0% 186.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -33.6% -2.2% 15.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -7.2% -41.6% 188.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -16.5% 4.4% 26.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.6% 10.1% 96.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -23.8% 4.4% 40.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.8% 9.4% 72.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricESABEMRMSA
Gross margin 37.0% 53.2% 47.6%
EBITDA margin 15.4% 33.1% 25.1%
Operating margin 12.1% 25.1% 21.2%
Pretax margin 8.7% 17.6% 21.1%
Net margin 5.7% 13.8% 16.1%
FCF margin 6.5% 18.6% 18.2%
Operating cash flow margin 8.6% 21.0% 20.9%
Return on equity 7.4% 12.7% 22.8%
Return on assets 2.9% 6.1% 12.2%
Return on invested capital 6.2% 10.9% 15.9%
Return on capital employed 6.8% 14.9% 18.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.5x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 1.3% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricESABEMRMSA
Debt / assets 36.5% 31.1% 23.1%
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.6x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.7x 1.8x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 12.2x 3.8x 1.7x
Liabilities / assets 60.6% 51.7% 46.1%
Equity / assets 39.4% 48.3% 53.9%
Interest coverage 3.5x – 12.7x
Current ratio 2.0x 0.9x 3.2x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.5x 1.9x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.2x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 1.59 4.63 5.98

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricESABEMRMSA
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.4% 1.2%
Net buyback yield – 1.0% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 0.7% 2.4% 3.0%
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.

ConsensusESABEMRMSA
Forward P/E 13.0xFY2026 24.0xFY2026 19.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.16FY2026 $6.74FY2026 $9.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -2.3%FY2026 +12.3%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +28.3% +15.4% +3.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.87BFY2026 $18.13BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.3%FY2026 +0.6%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.7% +15.3% +19.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersESABEMRMSA
Held by institutions 100.0% 82.1% 91.0%
Institutions holding 347 2,290 457
Change in shares held, QoQ +11.0% +0.9% +3.0%
Institutions buying 187 1,080 236
Institutions selling 111 798 147
Buyers to sellers 1.68 1.35 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.

ESABEMRMSA
ESAB 1.00 0.57 0.47
EMR 0.57 1.00 0.49
MSA 0.47 0.49 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ESAB, EMR and MSA?

Emerson Electric (EMR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Esab (ESAB) $4.14B, Emerson Electric (EMR) $90.47B, MSA Safety (MSA) $7.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, ESAB, EMR and MSA?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Esab (ESAB) 24.2x, Emerson Electric (EMR) 35.1x, MSA Safety (MSA) 22.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Esab (ESAB) is cheapest (Esab (ESAB) 13.0x, Emerson Electric (EMR) 24.0x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Esab (ESAB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Esab (ESAB) +9.7%, Emerson Electric (EMR) +4.8%, MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (Esab (ESAB) 5.7%, Emerson Electric (EMR) 13.8%, MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%). On return on invested capital, MSA Safety (MSA) leads (Esab (ESAB) 6.2%, 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: Esab (ESAB) -45.7%, Emerson Electric (EMR) +21.3%, MSA Safety (MSA) +9.4%. Over five years, Emerson Electric (EMR) compounded fastest (Emerson Electric (EMR) +10.8%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Esab (ESAB) 0.00%, Emerson Electric (EMR) 0.01%, MSA Safety (MSA) 0.00%. Esab (ESAB) and MSA Safety (MSA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (Esab (ESAB) 46.1%, Emerson Electric (EMR) 31.7%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ESAB, EMR 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 6. 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.