MSA vs KMT Stock Comparison

MSA Safety and Kennametal Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$182.59 +0.1% 1M +8.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.05B
P/E
22.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
1.17%
Power Tools Industrials
6 wins
KMT Kennametal Inc
$29.77 -4.1% 1M +30.9% 1Y
Market cap
$2.27B
P/E
6.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.36B
Div. yield
2.69%
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, Kennametal 6). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMSAKMTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.05B $2.27B MSA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.5x 6.6x KMT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.6x 5.7x KMT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% +19.8% KMT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.1% 14.5% MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 16.5% KMT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 1.0x MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.17% 2.69% KMT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +8.6% +30.9% KMT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.7%/yr -4.9%/yr MSA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.5% 44.4% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 77/100 72/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

MSAKMT

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

AxisMSAKMT
Valuation 62 #26 of 67 76 #17 of 67
Growth 93 #5 of 54 81 #11 of 54
Profitability 98 #2 of 53 79 #12 of 53
Financial Health 70 #25 of 82 47 #44 of 82
Shareholder Returns 62 #15 of 39 76 #10 of 39
Overall 77 72
  • MSA ranked among 82 companies in Machinery
  • KMT ranked among 82 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMSAKMTSPY
1 month +0.1%-4.1% -0.8%
3 months +4.0%-15.7% +3.5%
6 months +6.8%-24.9% +7.0%
Year to date +14.0%+4.8% +12.2%
1 year +8.6%+30.9% +13.0%
3 years +15.9%+32.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +5.0%+9.8% +23.1%
5 years +20.0%-22.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year +3.7%-4.9% +11.0%
10 years +228.8%+3.0% +258.0%
10 years, per year +12.6%+0.3% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureMSAKMTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.5%44.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.1%42.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.821.32 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.340.69 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.9%-57.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.1%-31.2% -1.8%
52-week high $203.08$43.27 $779.14
52-week low $152.94$21.95 $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.

MultipleMSAKMT
P/E now vs peer median 22.5xmedian 22.6x 6.6xmedian 22.6x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 1.9x 1.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.3xmedian 13.4x 4.7xmedian 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.9xmedian 20.5x -28.0xmedian 20.5x
P/B now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 1.4x 1.4xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.12median 0.76 0.15median 0.76

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 monthsMSAKMT
Revenue $1.95B $2.36B
Gross profit $925.88M $969.96M
Operating income $413.17M $472.53M
Net income $314.01M $350.41M
Free cash flow $354.30M -$80.91M
R&D $68.19M –
EPS (diluted) $8.11 $4.42
Cash & equivalents $200.06M $95.79M
Total debt $599.74M $717.45M
Shares (diluted) 38.70M 77.42M
Enterprise value $6.33B $1.88B

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
MetricMSAKMT
P/E 22.5x 6.6x
P/FCF 19.9x -28.0x
P/Operating cash flow 17.4x -566.1x
P/S 3.6x 1.0x
P/B 5.0x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 6.3x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 15.3x 4.7x
EV/EBIT 18.0x 6.1x
EV/Revenue 3.8x 1.2x
EV/FCF 21.0x -35.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.4x -721.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.12 0.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMSAKMT
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% 19.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 4.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.2% 62.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.7% 14.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 10.8% 230.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 34.5% 34.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 13.4% 255.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 186.8% 41.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.3% 269.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 188.5% 44.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 26.3% -101.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 96.0% -26.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 40.3% -167.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 72.1% -35.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMSAKMT
Gross margin 47.6% 41.2%
EBITDA margin 25.1% 26.1%
Operating margin 21.2% 20.1%
Pretax margin 21.1% 19.6%
Net margin 16.1% 14.5%
FCF margin 18.2% -3.4%
Operating cash flow margin 20.9% -0.2%
Return on equity 22.8% 23.3%
Return on assets 12.2% 11.9%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 16.5%
Return on capital employed 18.0% 20.8%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 0.0x
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% 1.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMSAKMT
Debt / assets 23.1% 22.7%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 1.0x
Debt / FCF 1.7x -8.9x
Liabilities / assets 46.1% 49.1%
Equity / assets 53.9% 50.9%
Interest coverage 12.7x 16.5x
Current ratio 3.2x 2.6x
Quick ratio 1.9x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 5.99 3.18

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMSAKMT
Dividend yield 1.2% 2.7%
Net buyback yield 1.8% 0.8%
Shareholder yield 2.9% 3.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 17.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – -75.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) – -1.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -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.

ConsensusMSAKMT
Forward P/E 19.6xFY2026 5.7xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $9.33FY2026 $5.25FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +17.7%FY2026 +14.9%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +3.4% -57.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.98BFY2026 $3.22BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +5.2%FY2026 +36.5%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +19.6% +13.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMSAKMT
Held by institutions 91.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 457 337
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% +2.5%
Institutions buying 236 198
Institutions selling 147 95
Buyers to sellers 1.61 2.08

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.

MSAKMT
MSA 1.00 0.47
KMT 0.47 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry
MSA · Power Tools

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MSA and KMT?

MSA Safety (MSA) is the largest by market capitalisation: MSA Safety (MSA) $7.05B, Kennametal (KMT) $2.27B.

Which stock is cheaper, MSA and KMT?

Kennametal (KMT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (MSA Safety (MSA) 22.5x, Kennametal (KMT) 6.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Kennametal (KMT) is cheapest (MSA Safety (MSA) 19.6x, Kennametal (KMT) 5.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Kennametal (KMT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%, Kennametal (KMT) +19.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%, Kennametal (KMT) 14.5%). On return on invested capital, Kennametal (KMT) leads (MSA Safety (MSA) 15.9%, Kennametal (KMT) 16.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kennametal (KMT) returned the most: MSA Safety (MSA) +8.6%, Kennametal (KMT) +30.9%. Over five years, MSA Safety (MSA) compounded fastest (MSA Safety (MSA) +3.7%/yr, Kennametal (KMT) -4.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Kennametal (KMT) has the highest dividend yield: MSA Safety (MSA) 1.17%, Kennametal (KMT) 2.69%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%, Kennametal (KMT) 44.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do MSA and KMT move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.47, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, MSA and KMT?

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.