IEX vs MSA Stock Comparison

Idex and MSA Safety Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IEX Idex Corp /De/
$233.15 +1.3% 1M +39.1% 1Y
Market cap
$17.52B
P/E
33.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.59B
Div. yield
0.01%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
4 wins
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$179.23 -1.8% 1M +7.5% 1Y
Market cap
$6.84B
P/E
21.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 7, Idex 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIEXMSALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.52B $6.84B IEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.7x 21.8x MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.5x 19.2x MSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.3% +6.5% IEX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.5% 16.1% MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.6% 15.9% MSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 0.8x MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +39.1% +7.5% IEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.9%/yr +3.2%/yr MSA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.1% 25.5% IEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 78/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

IEXMSA

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

AxisIEXMSA
Valuation 37 #129 of 203 58 #86 of 203
Growth 40 #113 of 188 86 #27 of 188
Profitability 85 #29 of 183 97 #6 of 183
Financial Health 71 #63 of 217 76 #54 of 217
Shareholder Returns 43 #87 of 153 74 #40 of 153
Overall 55 78
  • IEX 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

PeriodIEXMSASPY
1 month +1.3%-1.8% -0.2%
3 months +3.7%-0.3% +3.9%
6 months +13.5%+7.2% +8.2%
Year to date +31.0%+11.9% +12.9%
1 year +39.1%+7.5% +12.3%
3 years +22.1%+13.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +6.9%+4.4% +23.3%
5 years +4.6%+16.9% +67.9%
5 years, per year +0.9%+3.2% +10.9%
10 years +171.1%+224.9% +261.1%
10 years, per year +10.5%+12.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureIEXMSASPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.1%25.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.9%24.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.680.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.770.29 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.9%-34.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.1%-11.7% -1.2%
52-week high $240.52$203.08 $779.14
52-week low $161.68$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.

MultipleIEXMSA
P/E now vs peer median 33.2xmedian 25.2x 22.0xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 1.9x 3.6xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.3xmedian 14.0x 15.0xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.8xmedian 21.7x 19.5xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 2.3x 4.9xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -10.16median 1.32 0.12median 1.32

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 monthsIEXMSA
Revenue $3.59B $1.95B
Gross profit $1.60B $925.88M
Operating income $741.70M $413.17M
Net income $519.50M $314.01M
Free cash flow $641.50M $354.30M
R&D – $68.19M
EPS (diluted) $7.00 $8.11
Cash & equivalents $621.30M $200.06M
Total debt $1.86B $599.74M
Shares (diluted) 74.20M 38.70M
Enterprise value $15.14B $6.12B

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
MetricIEXMSA
P/E 33.2x 22.0x
P/FCF 26.8x 19.5x
P/Operating cash flow 24.0x 17.0x
P/S 4.8x 3.6x
P/B 4.3x 4.9x
P/Tangible book 6.0x 6.2x
EV/EBITDA 19.3x 15.0x
EV/EBIT 24.8x 17.7x
EV/Revenue 5.1x 3.8x
EV/FCF 28.7x 20.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.7x 18.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -10.16 0.12

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIEXMSA
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.3% 6.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.5% 5.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.1% 8.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.5% 6.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.8% 10.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -1.2% 34.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 10.7% 13.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.0% 186.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 12.6% 15.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.3% 188.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 11.1% 26.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 96.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 9.3% 40.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.0% 72.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIEXMSA
Gross margin 44.7% 47.6%
EBITDA margin 26.6% 25.1%
Operating margin 20.7% 21.2%
Pretax margin 19.0% 21.1%
Net margin 14.5% 16.1%
FCF margin 17.9% 18.2%
Operating cash flow margin 20.0% 20.9%
Return on equity 12.9% 22.8%
Return on assets 7.5% 12.2%
Return on invested capital 9.6% 15.9%
Return on capital employed 11.7% 18.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIEXMSA
Debt / assets 26.8% 23.1%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 2.9x 1.7x
Liabilities / assets 42.2% 46.1%
Equity / assets 57.8% 53.9%
Interest coverage – 12.7x
Current ratio 3.0x 3.2x
Quick ratio 2.0x 1.9x
Cash ratio 1.1x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 5.55 5.92

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIEXMSA
Dividend yield 1.2% 1.2%
Net buyback yield 1.8% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 3.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 41.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 33.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 5.0% –

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.

ConsensusIEXMSA
Forward P/E 25.5xFY2026 19.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.14FY2026 $9.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.0%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.0% +3.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.93BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.0% +19.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIEXMSA
Held by institutions 100.0% 91.0%
Institutions holding 686 457
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.1% +3.0%
Institutions buying 351 236
Institutions selling 201 147
Buyers to sellers 1.75 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.

IEXMSA
IEX 1.00 0.44
MSA 0.44 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IEX and MSA?

Idex (IEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Idex (IEX) $17.52B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.84B.

Which stock is cheaper, IEX and MSA?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Idex (IEX) 33.7x, MSA Safety (MSA) 21.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, MSA Safety (MSA) is cheapest (Idex (IEX) 25.5x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.2x). 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) +7.3%, MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (Idex (IEX) 14.5%, MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%). On return on invested capital, MSA Safety (MSA) leads (Idex (IEX) 9.6%, MSA Safety (MSA) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Idex (IEX) returned the most: Idex (IEX) +39.1%, MSA Safety (MSA) +7.5%. Over five years, MSA Safety (MSA) compounded fastest (Idex (IEX) +0.9%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Idex (IEX) 0.01%, MSA Safety (MSA) 0.00%. MSA Safety (MSA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Idex (IEX) has been the steadiest (Idex (IEX) 22.1%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do IEX and MSA move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.44, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, IEX 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 7. 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.