IEX vs MSA vs SWK Stock Comparison

Idex, MSA Safety and Stanley Black & Decker Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IEX Idex Corp /De/
$239.06 +3.4% 1M +43.2% 1Y
Market cap
$17.44B
P/E
32.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.66B
Div. yield
0.01%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
4 wins
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$177.34 -2.8% 1M +9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$6.93B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 6, Idex 4, Stanley Black & Decker 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIEXMSASWKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.44B $6.93B $15.38B IEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.6x 22.1x 24.8x MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.2x 19.0x 17.3x SWK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.9% +6.5% +0.6% IEX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.6% 16.1% 4.1% MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.0% 15.9% 6.6% MSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 0.8x 2.3x MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.03% SWK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +43.2% +9.0% +39.7% IEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.4%/yr +3.0%/yr -11.0%/yr MSA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.3% 25.4% 36.5% IEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 79/100 59/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

IEXMSASWK

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

AxisIEXMSASWK
Valuation 37 #128 of 203 60 #81 of 203 89 #23 of 203
Growth 42 #110 of 188 86 #27 of 188 81 #36 of 188
Profitability 90 #19 of 184 97 #7 of 184 51 #91 of 184
Financial Health 74 #58 of 217 77 #50 of 217 28 #157 of 217
Shareholder Returns 45 #84 of 153 76 #38 of 153 47 #81 of 153
Overall 58 79 59
  • IEX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • SWK ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIEXMSASWKSPY
1 month +3.4%-2.8%+13.2% +0.9%
3 months +4.1%+0.7%+7.9% +5.9%
6 months +10.0%+8.0%+32.3% +8.5%
Year to date +34.3%+10.7%+35.2% +13.3%
1 year +43.2%+9.0%+39.7% +12.4%
3 years +25.2%+12.5%+22.4% +88.1%
3 years, per year +7.8%+4.0%+7.0% +23.5%
5 years +7.4%+15.9%-44.1% +68.2%
5 years, per year +1.4%+3.0%-11.0% +11.0%
10 years +177.3%+221.0%-12.2% +263.4%
10 years, per year +10.7%+12.4%-1.3% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureIEXMSASWKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.3%25.4%36.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.9%23.9%32.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.690.821.41 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.940.351.09 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.9%-34.9%-71.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.6%-12.7%-3.4% -0.9%
52-week high $240.52$203.08$104.00 $779.14
52-week low $161.68$152.94$62.12 $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.

MultipleIEXMSASWK
P/E now vs peer median 32.9xmedian 25.4x 21.8xmedian 25.4x 24.3xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 1.9x 3.5xmedian 1.9x 1.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.1xmedian 14.3x 14.8xmedian 14.3x 10.7xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.3xmedian 21.8x 19.3xmedian 21.8x 11.8xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 2.2x 4.9xmedian 2.2x 1.7xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -8.63median 1.41 0.12median 1.41 -4.62median 1.41

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 monthsIEXMSASWK
Revenue $3.66B $1.95B $15.25B
Gross profit $1.64B $925.88M $4.86B
Operating income $763.90M $413.17M $1.32B
Net income $535.80M $314.01M $620.50M
Free cash flow $667.10M $354.30M $1.29B
R&D – $68.19M –
EPS (diluted) $7.24 $8.11 $4.12
Cash & equivalents $602.10M $200.06M $592.40M
Total debt $1.75B $599.74M $4.76B
Shares (diluted) 74.00M 38.70M 150.65M
Enterprise value $15.05B $6.22B $13.91B

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
MetricIEXMSASWK
P/E 32.9x 21.8x 24.3x
P/FCF 26.3x 19.3x 11.8x
P/Operating cash flow 23.3x 16.9x 9.8x
P/S 4.8x 3.5x 1.0x
P/B 4.4x 4.9x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 6.1x 6.1x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 19.1x 14.8x 10.7x
EV/EBIT 24.5x 17.5x 14.7x
EV/Revenue 5.1x 3.7x 1.3x
EV/FCF 28.0x 20.5x 15.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.9x 17.9x 12.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -8.63 0.12 -4.62

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIEXMSASWK
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.9% 6.5% 0.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.5% 5.2% -2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.1% 8.2% 9.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 6.7% 11.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.2% 10.8% 51.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.7% 34.5% 149.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 12.1% 13.4% 29.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.6% 186.8% -7.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 13.9% 15.3% 30.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.8% 188.5% -5.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 17.0% 26.3% 104.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 96.0% 96.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 14.2% 40.3% 211.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.9% 72.1% 110.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIEXMSASWK
Gross margin 44.9% 47.6% 31.9%
EBITDA margin 26.7% 25.1% 11.9%
Operating margin 20.9% 21.2% 8.6%
Pretax margin 19.2% 21.1% 5.6%
Net margin 14.6% 16.1% 4.1%
FCF margin 18.2% 18.2% 8.5%
Operating cash flow margin 20.6% 20.9% 10.2%
Return on equity 13.4% 22.8% 6.9%
Return on assets 7.8% 12.2% 3.0%
Return on invested capital 10.0% 15.9% 6.6%
Return on capital employed 12.2% 18.0% 8.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 1.0% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIEXMSASWK
Debt / assets 25.5% 23.1% 23.7%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.4x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.2x 0.8x 2.3x
Debt / FCF 2.6x 1.7x 3.7x
Liabilities / assets 41.6% 46.1% 55.4%
Equity / assets 58.4% 53.9% 44.6%
Interest coverage – 12.7x 2.8x
Current ratio 2.8x 3.2x 1.4x
Quick ratio 1.8x 1.9x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.7x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 5.74 5.89 2.49

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIEXMSASWK
Dividend yield 1.2% 1.2% 3.3%
Net buyback yield 1.7% 1.8% 1.7%
Shareholder yield 2.9% 3.0% 5.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 39.9% – 81.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 32.1% – 39.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.0% – 1.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.5% – 1.9%

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.

ConsensusIEXMSASWK
Forward P/E 26.2xFY2026 19.0xFY2026 17.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.14FY2026 $9.33FY2026 $5.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.0%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +24.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.0% +3.4% +5.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.93BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026 $16.13BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026 +6.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.0% +19.6% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIEXMSASWK
Held by institutions 100.0% 91.0% 95.7%
Institutions holding 686 457 771
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.1% +3.0% +5.3%
Institutions buying 351 236 417
Institutions selling 201 147 243
Buyers to sellers 1.75 1.61 1.72

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.

IEXMSASWK
IEX 1.00 0.44 0.57
MSA 0.44 1.00 0.54
SWK 0.57 0.54 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IEX, MSA and SWK?

Idex (IEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Idex (IEX) $17.44B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.93B, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) $15.38B.

Which stock is cheaper, IEX, MSA and SWK?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Idex (IEX) 32.6x, MSA Safety (MSA) 22.1x, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 24.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) is cheapest (Idex (IEX) 26.2x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.0x, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 17.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Idex (IEX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Idex (IEX) +6.9%, MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) +0.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (Idex (IEX) 14.6%, MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 4.1%). On return on invested capital, MSA Safety (MSA) leads (Idex (IEX) 10.0%, MSA Safety (MSA) 15.9%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 6.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Idex (IEX) returned the most: Idex (IEX) +43.2%, MSA Safety (MSA) +9.0%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) +39.7%. Over five years, MSA Safety (MSA) compounded fastest (Idex (IEX) +1.4%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.0%/yr, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) -11.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) has the highest dividend yield: Idex (IEX) 0.01%, MSA Safety (MSA) 0.00%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 0.03%. MSA Safety (MSA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Idex (IEX) has been the steadiest (Idex (IEX) 22.3%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.4%, Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) 36.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IEX, MSA and SWK?

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.