MMM vs MSA vs RELX Stock Comparison

3M, MSA Safety and Relx Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MMM 3M Co
$172.82 +2.0% 1M +3.6% 1Y
Market cap
$92.01B
P/E
26.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$25.25B
Div. yield
0.02%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins
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
8 wins
RELX Relx Plc
$38.74 +17.1% 1M -16.2% 1Y
Market cap
$71.69B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Analytics and BI Technology
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 8, 3M 2, Relx 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMMMMSARELXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $92.01B $6.89B $71.69B MMM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.0x 21.9x — MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.5x 19.0x 21.4x MSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.7% +6.5% — MSA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.0% 16.1% — MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 22.0% 15.9% — MMM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.6x 0.8x — MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.6% +9.0% -16.2% MSA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.0%/yr +3.0%/yr +4.4%/yr RELX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.6% 25.4% 35.3% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 79/100 — MSA

Percentile Scorecard

MMMMSARELX

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

AxisMMMMSARELX
Valuation 38 #126 of 203 60 #81 of 203 –
Growth 59 #77 of 188 86 #27 of 188 –
Profitability 87 #24 of 184 97 #7 of 184 –
Financial Health 19 #177 of 217 77 #50 of 217 18 #89 of 108
Shareholder Returns 47 #82 of 153 76 #38 of 153 48 #34 of 64
Overall 50 79 –
  • MMM 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

PeriodMMMMSARELXSPY
1 month +2.0%-2.8%+17.1% +0.9%
3 months -2.9%+0.7%+1.4% +5.9%
6 months +20.1%+8.0%+8.2% +8.5%
Year to date +7.9%+10.7%-4.2% +13.3%
1 year +3.6%+9.0%-16.2% +12.4%
3 years +136.2%+12.5%+13.7% +88.1%
3 years, per year +33.2%+4.0%+4.4% +23.5%
5 years +15.7%+15.9%+24.2% +68.2%
5 years, per year +3.0%+3.0%+4.4% +11.0%
10 years +24.7%+221.0%+113.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year +2.2%+12.4%+7.9% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureMMMMSARELXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.6%25.4%35.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.6%23.9%36.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.690.820.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.140.35-0.46 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -53.4%-34.9%-50.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.0%-12.7%-16.2% -0.9%
52-week high $183.81$203.08$46.23 $779.14
52-week low $141.20$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.

MultipleMMMMSARELX
P/E now vs peer median 25.4xmedian 25.4x 21.8xmedian 25.4x —median 27.6x
P/S now vs peer median 3.5xmedian 1.9x 3.5xmedian 1.9x —median 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 14.3x 14.8xmedian 14.3x —median 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 33.4xmedian 21.8x 19.3xmedian 21.8x —median 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 21.4xmedian 2.2x 4.9xmedian 2.2x 42.4xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.71median 1.41 0.12median 1.41 —median 0.84

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 monthsMMMMSARELX
Revenue $25.25B $1.95B –
Gross profit $9.98B $925.88M –
Operating income $4.74B $413.17M –
Net income $3.58B $314.01M –
Free cash flow $2.68B $354.30M –
R&D $1.21B $68.19M –
EPS (diluted) $6.77 $8.11 –
Cash & equivalents $4.84B $200.06M $291.59M
Total debt $15.00B $599.74M $3.11B
Shares (diluted) 522.60M 38.70M 1.84B
Enterprise value $73.45B $6.18B $70.78B

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
MetricMMMMSARELX
P/E 25.4x 21.8x –
P/FCF 33.4x 19.3x –
P/Operating cash flow 24.6x 16.9x –
P/S 3.5x 3.5x –
P/B 21.4x 4.9x 42.4x
P/Tangible book 42.2x 6.1x -28.6x
EV/EBITDA 16.1x 14.8x –
EV/EBIT 20.9x 17.5x –
EV/Revenue 3.9x 3.7x –
EV/FCF 37.0x 20.5x –
EV/Operating cash flow 27.3x 17.9x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.71 0.12 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMMMMSARELX
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.7% 6.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.7% 5.2% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.8% 8.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 17.0% 6.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -3.7% 10.8% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 33.4% 34.5% –
Net income growth (1Y) 4.8% 13.4% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 35.4% 186.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) 7.1% 15.3% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.8% 188.5% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 42.8% 26.3% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.1% 96.0% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 68.6% 40.3% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.0% 72.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMMMMSARELX
Gross margin 39.5% 47.6% –
EBITDA margin 24.4% 25.1% –
Operating margin 18.8% 21.2% –
Pretax margin 17.5% 21.1% –
Net margin 14.0% 16.1% –
FCF margin 10.6% 18.2% –
Operating cash flow margin 14.4% 20.9% –
Return on equity 101.3% 22.8% –
Return on assets 9.8% 12.2% –
Return on invested capital 22.0% 15.9% –
Return on capital employed 18.7% 18.0% –
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.8x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 1.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMMMMSARELX
Debt / assets 37.9% 23.1% 15.6%
Debt / equity 3.6x 0.4x 1.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.6x 0.8x –
Debt / FCF 5.6x 1.7x –
Liabilities / assets 89.5% 46.1% 91.7%
Equity / assets 10.5% 53.9% 8.3%
Interest coverage – 12.7x –
Current ratio 1.4x 3.2x –
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.9x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.7x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 4.10 5.89 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMMMMSARELX
Dividend yield 1.8% 1.2% 2.3%
Net buyback yield 3.1% 1.8% –
Shareholder yield 4.8% 3.0% 2.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 44.8% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 59.9% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.2% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -21.4% – –

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.

ConsensusMMMMSARELX
Forward P/E 19.5xFY2026 19.0xFY2026 21.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.88FY2026 $9.33FY2026 $1.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.2%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +3.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +16.7% +3.4% +19.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $23.87BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026 $13.79BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.8%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026 +5.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.6% +19.6% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMMMMSARELX
Held by institutions 74.5% 91.0% 4.7%
Institutions holding 2,210 457 439
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +3.0% +0.2%
Institutions buying 916 236 220
Institutions selling 837 147 157
Buyers to sellers 1.09 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.

MMMMSARELX
MMM 1.00 0.44 0.04
MSA 0.44 1.00 0.00
RELX 0.04 0.00 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MMM, MSA and RELX?

3M (MMM) is the largest by market capitalisation: 3M (MMM) $92.01B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.89B, Relx (RELX) $71.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, MMM, MSA and RELX?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (3M (MMM) 26.0x, MSA Safety (MSA) 21.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, MSA Safety (MSA) is cheapest (3M (MMM) 19.5x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.0x, Relx (RELX) 21.4x). 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: 3M (MMM) +1.7%, MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (3M (MMM) 14.0%, MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%). On return on invested capital, 3M (MMM) leads (3M (MMM) 22.0%, MSA Safety (MSA) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year MSA Safety (MSA) returned the most: 3M (MMM) +3.6%, MSA Safety (MSA) +9.0%, Relx (RELX) -16.2%. Over five years, Relx (RELX) compounded fastest (3M (MMM) +3.0%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.0%/yr, Relx (RELX) +4.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: 3M (MMM) 0.02%, MSA Safety (MSA) 0.00%, Relx (RELX) 0.00%. MSA Safety (MSA) and Relx (RELX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (3M (MMM) 25.6%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.4%, Relx (RELX) 35.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MMM, 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.