IR vs MSA vs WTS Stock Comparison

Ingersoll Rand, MSA Safety and Watts Water Technologies Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IR Ingersoll Rand Inc.
$75.50 -1.2% 1M -4.2% 1Y
Market cap
$30.40B
P/E
31.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.94B
Div. yield
0.00%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
1 win
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$177.34 -2.8% 1M +9.0% 1Y
Market cap
$6.89B
P/E
21.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Watts Water Technologies leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Watts Water Technologies 6, MSA Safety 5, Ingersoll Rand 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIRMSAWTSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $30.40B $6.89B $11.73B IR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 31.7x 21.9x 30.6x MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.5x 19.0x 25.9x MSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.8% +6.5% +17.1% WTS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.1% 16.1% 14.3% MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.6% 15.9% 16.8% WTS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 0.8x -0.4x WTS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% WTS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.2% +9.0% +24.5% WTS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.0%/yr +3.0%/yr +12.5%/yr WTS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.0% 25.4% 27.7% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 79/100 72/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

IRMSAWTS

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

AxisIRMSAWTS
Valuation 44 #114 of 203 60 #81 of 203 35 #133 of 203
Growth 72 #54 of 188 86 #27 of 188 79 #40 of 188
Profitability 72 #53 of 184 97 #7 of 184 92 #15 of 184
Financial Health 51 #107 of 217 77 #50 of 217 89 #24 of 217
Shareholder Returns 57 #67 of 153 76 #38 of 153 65 #55 of 153
Overall 59 79 72
  • IR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WTS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIRMSAWTSSPY
1 month -1.2%-2.8%-4.2% +0.9%
3 months -10.8%+0.7%+2.0% +5.9%
6 months -2.5%+8.0%+15.4% +8.5%
Year to date -4.7%+10.7%+24.3% +13.3%
1 year -4.2%+9.0%+24.5% +12.4%
3 years +27.1%+12.5%+102.5% +88.1%
3 years, per year +8.3%+4.0%+26.5% +23.5%
5 years +40.4%+15.9%+80.5% +68.2%
5 years, per year +7.0%+3.0%+12.5% +11.0%
10 years —+221.0%+472.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+12.4%+19.1% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureIRMSAWTSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.0%25.4%27.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.4%23.9%26.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.230.820.89 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.130.350.88 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -36.6%-34.9%-44.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -23.6%-12.7%-12.6% -0.9%
52-week high $98.76$203.08$392.27 $779.14
52-week low $68.54$152.94$263.55 $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.

MultipleIRMSAWTS
P/E now vs peer median 30.7xmedian 25.4x 21.8xmedian 25.4x 29.9xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 1.9x 3.5xmedian 1.9x 4.3xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.7xmedian 14.3x 14.8xmedian 14.3x 18.8xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 21.8x 19.3xmedian 21.8x 32.8xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 2.2x 4.9xmedian 2.2x 5.2xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.47median 1.41 0.12median 1.41 2.33median 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 monthsIRMSAWTS
Revenue $7.94B $1.95B $2.68B
Gross profit $3.40B $925.88M $1.31B
Operating income $1.44B $413.17M $512.10M
Net income $966.00M $314.01M $383.80M
Free cash flow $1.22B $354.30M $349.40M
R&D – $68.19M –
EPS (diluted) $2.45 $8.11 $11.46
Cash & equivalents $1.17B $200.06M $347.90M
Total debt $4.77B $599.74M $108.00M
Shares (diluted) 391.90M 38.70M 33.50M
Enterprise value $25.53B $6.18B $10.15B

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
MetricIRMSAWTS
P/E 30.7x 21.8x 29.9x
P/FCF 24.0x 19.3x 32.8x
P/Operating cash flow 21.7x 16.9x 28.8x
P/S 3.7x 3.5x 4.3x
P/B 2.9x 4.9x 5.2x
P/Tangible book 4.7x 6.1x 6.0x
EV/EBITDA 16.7x 14.8x 18.8x
EV/EBIT 22.9x 17.5x 21.9x
EV/Revenue 4.1x 3.7x 4.2x
EV/FCF 27.0x 20.5x 32.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x 17.9x 28.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.47 0.12 2.33

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIRMSAWTS
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.8% 6.5% 17.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.2% 5.2% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.6% 8.2% 18.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 6.7% 13.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 28.9% 10.8% 26.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 13.7% 34.5% 15.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 82.8% 13.4% 23.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 10.9% 186.8% 12.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 87.6% 15.3% 23.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.4% 188.5% 12.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -5.8% 26.3% 12.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 96.0% 12.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -6.1% 40.3% 10.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.6% 72.1% 11.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIRMSAWTS
Gross margin 42.8% 47.6% 48.9%
EBITDA margin 24.8% 25.1% 22.3%
Operating margin 18.1% 21.2% 19.1%
Pretax margin 15.2% 21.1% 19.0%
Net margin 12.1% 16.1% 14.3%
FCF margin 15.4% 18.2% 13.1%
Operating cash flow margin 17.0% 20.9% 14.9%
Return on equity 9.4% 22.8% 17.9%
Return on assets 5.3% 12.2% 13.0%
Return on invested capital 7.6% 15.9% 16.8%
Return on capital employed 9.2% 18.0% 21.1%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.8x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 1.0% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIRMSAWTS
Debt / assets 26.2% 23.1% 3.7%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.4x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 0.8x -0.4x
Debt / FCF 3.9x 1.7x 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 43.7% 46.1% 25.8%
Equity / assets 56.3% 53.9% 74.2%
Interest coverage 5.6x 12.7x 50.2x
Current ratio 1.6x 3.2x 2.7x
Quick ratio 1.0x 1.9x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.7x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 3.28 5.89 11.59

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIRMSAWTS
Dividend yield 0.1% 1.2% 0.7%
Net buyback yield 2.8% 1.8% 0.1%
Shareholder yield 2.9% 3.0% 0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 3.3% – 19.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) 2.6% – 21.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) -2.8% – 21.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -1.0% – 20.1%

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.

ConsensusIRMSAWTS
Forward P/E 22.5xFY2026 19.0xFY2026 25.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.35FY2026 $9.33FY2026 $13.22FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.3%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +25.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.5% +3.4% +13.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.35BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026 $3.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.2%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026 +23.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.4% +19.6% -5.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIRMSAWTS
Held by institutions 100.0% 91.0% 98.6%
Institutions holding 894 457 579
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.5% +3.0% +1.9%
Institutions buying 367 236 295
Institutions selling 360 147 187
Buyers to sellers 1.02 1.61 1.58

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.

IRMSAWTS
IR 1.00 0.57 0.49
MSA 0.57 1.00 0.53
WTS 0.49 0.53 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IR, MSA and WTS?

Ingersoll Rand (IR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ingersoll Rand (IR) $30.40B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.89B, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) $11.73B.

Which stock is cheaper, IR, MSA and WTS?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ingersoll Rand (IR) 31.7x, MSA Safety (MSA) 21.9x, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 30.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, MSA Safety (MSA) is cheapest (Ingersoll Rand (IR) 22.5x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.0x, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 25.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Watts Water Technologies (WTS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ingersoll Rand (IR) +7.8%, MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) +17.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (Ingersoll Rand (IR) 12.1%, MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 14.3%). On return on invested capital, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) leads (Ingersoll Rand (IR) 7.6%, MSA Safety (MSA) 15.9%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 16.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Watts Water Technologies (WTS) returned the most: Ingersoll Rand (IR) -4.2%, MSA Safety (MSA) +9.0%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) +24.5%. Over five years, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) compounded fastest (Ingersoll Rand (IR) +7.0%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.0%/yr, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) +12.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Watts Water Technologies (WTS) has the highest dividend yield: Ingersoll Rand (IR) 0.00%, MSA Safety (MSA) 0.00%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 0.01%. MSA Safety (MSA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (Ingersoll Rand (IR) 33.0%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.4%, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 27.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IR, MSA and WTS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Watts Water Technologies (WTS) 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.