MSA vs EMR vs IR Stock Comparison

MSA Safety, Emerson Electric and Ingersoll Rand Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$179.23 -1.8% 1M +7.5% 1Y
Market cap
$6.92B
P/E
22.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
1.19%
Power Tools Industrials
7 wins
EMR Emerson Electric Co
$166.25 +5.2% 1M +23.6% 1Y
Market cap
$92.73B
P/E
36.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.64B
Div. yield
1.34%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
4 wins
IR Ingersoll Rand Inc.
$75.57 -0.7% 1M -5.8% 1Y
Market cap
$29.32B
P/E
30.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.94B
Div. yield
0.11%
Pumps and Valves Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 7, Emerson Electric 4, Ingersoll Rand 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMSAEMRIRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.92B $92.73B $29.32B EMR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.0x 36.0x 30.7x MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.2x 24.6x 22.6x MSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% +4.8% +7.8% IR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.1% 13.8% 12.1% MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 10.9% 7.6% MSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 1.8x 1.8x MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.19% 1.34% 0.11% EMR
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +7.5% +23.6% -5.8% EMR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.2%/yr +11.3%/yr +6.8%/yr EMR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.5% 31.8% 33.0% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 78/100 45/100 58/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

MSAEMRIR

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

AxisMSAEMRIR
Valuation 58 #86 of 203 34 #134 of 203 43 #116 of 203
Growth 86 #27 of 188 40 #114 of 188 70 #57 of 188
Profitability 97 #6 of 183 86 #26 of 183 71 #53 of 183
Financial Health 76 #54 of 217 29 #154 of 217 50 #110 of 217
Shareholder Returns 74 #40 of 153 36 #99 of 153 57 #66 of 153
Overall 78 45 58
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • EMR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • IR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMSAEMRIRSPY
1 month -1.8%+5.2%-0.7% -0.2%
3 months -0.3%+9.5%-12.6% +3.9%
6 months +7.2%+20.1%-6.9% +8.2%
Year to date +11.9%+25.3%-4.6% +12.9%
1 year +7.5%+23.6%-5.8% +12.3%
3 years +13.7%+88.9%+27.3% +87.4%
3 years, per year +4.4%+23.6%+8.4% +23.3%
5 years +16.9%+70.5%+39.1% +67.9%
5 years, per year +3.2%+11.3%+6.8% +10.9%
10 years +224.9%+233.6%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +12.5%+12.8%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMSAEMRIRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.5%31.8%33.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.1%33.5%31.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.811.541.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.290.74-0.18 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.9%-29.9%-36.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.7%0.0%-23.5% -1.2%
52-week high $203.08$166.25$98.76 $779.14
52-week low $152.94$123.30$68.54 $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.

MultipleMSAEMRIR
P/E now vs peer median 22.0xmedian 25.2x 36.0xmedian 25.2x 30.7xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 1.9x 5.0xmedian 1.9x 3.7xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 14.0x 16.8xmedian 14.0x 16.7xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.5xmedian 21.7x 26.8xmedian 21.7x 24.0xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 2.3x 4.5xmedian 2.3x 2.9xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.12median 1.32 -0.87median 1.32 2.47median 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 monthsMSAEMRIR
Revenue $1.95B $18.64B $7.94B
Gross profit $925.88M $9.91B $3.40B
Operating income $413.17M $4.68B $1.44B
Net income $314.01M $2.58B $966.00M
Free cash flow $354.30M $3.46B $1.22B
R&D $68.19M – –
EPS (diluted) $8.11 $4.59 $2.45
Cash & equivalents $200.06M $2.18B $1.17B
Total debt $599.74M $13.11B $4.77B
Shares (diluted) 38.70M 561.10M 391.90M
Enterprise value $6.20B $85.49B $24.51B

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
MetricMSAEMRIR
P/E 22.0x 36.0x 30.7x
P/FCF 19.5x 26.8x 24.0x
P/Operating cash flow 17.0x 23.7x 21.7x
P/S 3.6x 5.0x 3.7x
P/B 4.9x 4.5x 2.9x
P/Tangible book 6.2x 7.9x 4.8x
EV/EBITDA 15.0x 16.8x 16.7x
EV/EBIT 17.7x 22.2x 22.9x
EV/Revenue 3.8x 5.6x 4.1x
EV/FCF 20.7x 29.9x 27.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.0x 26.5x 24.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.12 -0.87 2.47

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMSAEMRIR
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% 4.8% 7.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 7.6% 7.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.2% 5.7% 5.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.7% 11.0% 9.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 10.8% 9.2% 28.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 34.5% 13.6% 13.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 13.4% -3.0% 82.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 186.8% -42.0% 10.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.3% -2.2% 87.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 188.5% -41.6% 12.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 26.3% 4.4% -5.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 96.0% 10.1% 9.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 40.3% 4.4% -6.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 72.1% 9.4% 9.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMSAEMRIR
Gross margin 47.6% 53.2% 42.8%
EBITDA margin 25.1% 33.1% 24.8%
Operating margin 21.2% 25.1% 18.1%
Pretax margin 21.1% 17.6% 15.2%
Net margin 16.1% 13.8% 12.1%
FCF margin 18.2% 18.6% 15.4%
Operating cash flow margin 20.9% 21.0% 17.0%
Return on equity 22.8% 12.7% 9.4%
Return on assets 12.2% 6.1% 5.3%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 10.9% 7.6%
Return on capital employed 18.0% 14.9% 9.2%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.4x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.5x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% 1.3% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMSAEMRIR
Debt / assets 23.1% 31.1% 26.2%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.6x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 1.8x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 1.7x 3.8x 3.9x
Liabilities / assets 46.1% 51.7% 43.7%
Equity / assets 53.9% 48.3% 56.3%
Interest coverage 12.7x – 5.6x
Current ratio 3.2x 0.9x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.9x 0.5x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 5.92 4.71 3.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMSAEMRIR
Dividend yield 1.2% 1.3% 0.1%
Net buyback yield 1.8% 1.0% 2.8%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 2.3% 2.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 47.8% 3.3%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 35.6% 2.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.1% -2.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 0.7% -1.0%

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.

ConsensusMSAEMRIR
Forward P/E 19.2xFY2026 24.6xFY2026 22.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.33FY2026 $6.75FY2026 $3.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.7%FY2026 +12.5%FY2026 +0.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +3.4% +15.3% +21.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.98BFY2026 $18.13BFY2026 $8.35BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.2%FY2026 +0.6%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.6% +15.3% +6.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMSAEMRIR
Held by institutions 91.0% 82.1% 100.0%
Institutions holding 457 2,290 894
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% +0.9% -1.5%
Institutions buying 236 1,080 367
Institutions selling 147 798 360
Buyers to sellers 1.61 1.35 1.02

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.

MSAEMRIR
MSA 1.00 0.48 0.55
EMR 0.48 1.00 0.69
IR 0.55 0.69 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MSA, EMR and IR?

Emerson Electric (EMR) is the largest by market capitalisation: MSA Safety (MSA) $6.92B, Emerson Electric (EMR) $92.73B, Ingersoll Rand (IR) $29.32B.

Which stock is cheaper, MSA, EMR and IR?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (MSA Safety (MSA) 22.0x, Emerson Electric (EMR) 36.0x, Ingersoll Rand (IR) 30.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, MSA Safety (MSA) is cheapest (MSA Safety (MSA) 19.2x, Emerson Electric (EMR) 24.6x, Ingersoll Rand (IR) 22.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ingersoll Rand (IR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%, Emerson Electric (EMR) +4.8%, Ingersoll Rand (IR) +7.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%, Emerson Electric (EMR) 13.8%, Ingersoll Rand (IR) 12.1%). On return on invested capital, MSA Safety (MSA) leads (MSA Safety (MSA) 15.9%, Emerson Electric (EMR) 10.9%, Ingersoll Rand (IR) 7.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Emerson Electric (EMR) returned the most: MSA Safety (MSA) +7.5%, Emerson Electric (EMR) +23.6%, Ingersoll Rand (IR) -5.8%. Over five years, Emerson Electric (EMR) compounded fastest (MSA Safety (MSA) +3.2%/yr, Emerson Electric (EMR) +11.3%/yr, Ingersoll Rand (IR) +6.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Emerson Electric (EMR) has the highest dividend yield: MSA Safety (MSA) 1.19%, Emerson Electric (EMR) 1.34%, Ingersoll Rand (IR) 0.11%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%, Emerson Electric (EMR) 31.8%, Ingersoll Rand (IR) 33.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.