MSA vs NIQ vs RELX Stock Comparison

MSA Safety, NIQ Global Intelligence and Relx Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MSA MSA Safety Inc
$177.57 -3.0% 1M +12.9% 1Y
Market cap
$6.78B
P/E
22.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.01B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
5 wins
RELX Relx Plc
$41.08 +21.5% 1M -7.3% 1Y
Market cap
$77.10B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Analytics and BI Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 5, NIQ Global Intelligence 3, Relx 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMSANIQRELXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.78B $6.07B $77.10B RELX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.4x -17.3x — –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.0x 18.2x 22.7x NIQ
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.1% +8.9% — NIQ
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.0% -8.0% — MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 13.5% 1.8% — MSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 4.1x — MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +12.9% +65.3% -7.3% NIQ
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.0%/yr — +5.3%/yr RELX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.5% 67.0% 35.6% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 72/100 57/100 — MSA

Percentile Scorecard

MSANIQRELX

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

AxisMSANIQRELX
Valuation 55 #93 of 204 72 #28 of 99 –
Growth 83 #33 of 191 86 #15 of 98 –
Profitability 92 #17 of 189 48 #50 of 96 –
Financial Health 49 #114 of 221 20 #89 of 111 18 #91 of 111
Shareholder Returns 80 #33 of 159 – 42 #39 of 67
Overall 72 57 –
  • MSA ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • NIQ ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications
  • RELX ranked among 113 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMSANIQRELXSPY
1 month -3.0%+17.1%+21.5% -1.0%
3 months -7.9%+73.7%+12.2% -0.4%
6 months +2.1%+93.4%+14.9% +4.5%
Year to date +10.9%+22.8%+1.6% +12.4%
1 year +12.9%+65.3%-7.3% +13.6%
3 years +10.6%—+17.0% +76.4%
3 years, per year +3.4%—+5.4% +20.8%
5 years +15.7%—+29.5% +63.7%
5 years, per year +3.0%—+5.3% +10.4%
10 years +216.5%—+134.7% +267.7%
10 years, per year +12.2%—+8.9% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureMSANIQRELXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.5%67.0%35.6% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 23.8%62.9%36.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.750.480.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.510.98-0.20 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.9%-59.6%-50.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.6%-0.7%-7.9% -1.6%
52-week high $203.08$20.40$44.58 $779.14
52-week low $152.94$7.97$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.

MultipleMSANIQRELX
P/E now vs peer median 22.6xmedian 25.5x -17.0xmedian 25.3x —median 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 3.4xmedian 1.9x 1.4xmedian 2.8x —median 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.0xmedian 14.4x 12.0xmedian 16.5x —median 16.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.3xmedian 23.3x 11.8xmedian 16.1x —median 16.1x
P/B now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 2.2x 5.2xmedian 2.8x 44.9xmedian 2.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.21median 1.16 —median 0.84 —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 monthsMSANIQRELX
Revenue $2.01B $4.39B –
Gross profit $952.50M $2.43B –
Operating income $407.09M $85.40M –
Net income $302.79M -$350.00M –
Free cash flow $322.01M $506.40M –
R&D $71.63M – –
EPS (diluted) $7.83 $-1.19 –
Cash & equivalents $187.25M $416.60M $291.59M
Total debt $1.12B $3.55B $3.11B
Shares (diluted) 38.65M 295.06M 1.84B
Enterprise value $6.05B $4.33B $76.19B

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
MetricMSANIQRELX
P/E 22.6x -17.0x –
P/FCF 21.3x 11.8x –
P/Operating cash flow 18.2x 11.1x –
P/S 3.4x 1.4x –
P/B 4.8x 5.2x 44.9x
P/Tangible book 7.8x -6.9x -30.4x
EV/EBITDA 16.0x 12.0x –
EV/EBIT 19.1x 106.6x –
EV/Revenue 3.9x 2.1x –
EV/FCF 24.2x 18.0x –
EV/Operating cash flow 20.7x 16.9x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.21 – –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMSANIQRELX
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.1% 8.9% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.1% – –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.0% 7.6% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.5% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.4% 481.0% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 26.8% – –
Net income growth (1Y) 8.2% 31.1% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 108.0% – –
EPS growth (1Y) 9.9% 42.8% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 109.4% – –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 7.5% 1,467% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 217.6% – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 13.8% 12,760% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 96.8% – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMSANIQRELX
Gross margin 47.3% 55.4% –
EBITDA margin 24.1% 17.2% –
Operating margin 20.2% 1.9% –
Pretax margin 19.8% -4.4% –
Net margin 15.0% -8.0% –
FCF margin 16.0% 11.5% –
Operating cash flow margin 18.7% 12.2% –
Return on equity 21.4% -29.8% –
Return on assets 10.3% -5.1% –
Return on invested capital 13.5% 1.8% –
Return on capital employed 15.9% 1.6% –
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.6x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x -1.5x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 1.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMSANIQRELX
Debt / assets 34.2% 52.5% 15.6%
Debt / equity 0.8x 3.1x 1.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 4.1x –
Debt / FCF 3.5x 7.0x –
Liabilities / assets 56.3% 83.0% 91.7%
Equity / assets 43.7% 17.0% 8.3%
Interest coverage 10.8x – –
Current ratio 2.7x 1.1x –
Quick ratio 1.5x 1.0x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.3x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 4.20 0.87 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMSANIQRELX
Dividend yield 1.2% – 2.2%
Net buyback yield 2.0% – –
Shareholder yield 3.2% 0.0% 2.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusMSANIQRELX
Forward P/E 19.0xFY2026 18.2xFY2026 22.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.33FY2026 $1.11FY2026 $1.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.7%FY2026 +382.6%FY2026 +3.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +3.4% +19.8% +19.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.98BFY2026 $4.21BFY2026 $13.79BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.2%FY2026 +0.2%FY2026 +5.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.6% +18.6% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMSANIQRELX
Held by institutions 91.0% 84.4% 4.7%
Institutions holding 457 162 441
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.0% +4.0% +0.2%
Institutions buying 236 101 222
Institutions selling 147 51 157
Buyers to sellers 1.61 1.98 1.41

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.

MSANIQRELX
MSA 1.00 -0.01 0.04
NIQ -0.01 1.00 0.39
RELX 0.04 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MSA, NIQ and RELX?

Relx (RELX) is the largest by market capitalisation: MSA Safety (MSA) $6.78B, NIQ Global Intelligence (NIQ) $6.07B, Relx (RELX) $77.10B.

Which company is growing faster?

NIQ Global Intelligence (NIQ) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: MSA Safety (MSA) +8.1%, NIQ Global Intelligence (NIQ) +8.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (MSA Safety (MSA) 15.0%, NIQ Global Intelligence (NIQ) -8.0%). On return on invested capital, MSA Safety (MSA) leads (MSA Safety (MSA) 13.5%, NIQ Global Intelligence (NIQ) 1.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year NIQ Global Intelligence (NIQ) returned the most: MSA Safety (MSA) +12.9%, NIQ Global Intelligence (NIQ) +65.3%, Relx (RELX) -7.3%. Over five years, Relx (RELX) compounded fastest (MSA Safety (MSA) +3.0%/yr, Relx (RELX) +5.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%, NIQ Global Intelligence (NIQ) 67.0%, Relx (RELX) 35.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MSA, NIQ 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 5. 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.