RELX vs MSA vs CGNT Stock Comparison

Relx, MSA Safety and Cognyte Software Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
RELX Relx Plc
$40.17 +19.9% 1M -13.7% 1Y
Market cap
$71.51B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Analytics and BI Technology
2 wins
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$182.59 +0.1% 1M +8.6% 1Y
Market cap
$6.94B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
5 wins
CGNT Cognyte Software Ltd.
$9.97 +17.0% 1M +19.0% 1Y
Market cap
$742.22M
P/E
212.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$421.71M
Div. yield
–
Analytics and BI Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

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

QuestionRELXMSACGNTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $71.51B $6.94B $742.22M RELX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only — 22.1x 212.7x MSA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.2x 19.6x 20.8x MSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +6.5% +12.0% CGNT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 16.1% 0.8% MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 15.9% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.8x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -13.7% +8.6% +19.0% CGNT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.3%/yr +3.7%/yr -13.7%/yr RELX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.3% 25.5% 52.2% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 77/100 57/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

RELXMSACGNT

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

AxisRELXMSACGNT
Valuation – 55 #91 of 203 57 #44 of 102
Growth – 86 #27 of 187 89 #12 of 98
Profitability – 97 #7 of 185 64 #35 of 95
Financial Health 19 #89 of 109 76 #53 of 219 60 #44 of 109
Shareholder Returns 52 #31 of 64 73 #42 of 153 14 #55 of 64
Overall – 77 57
  • RELX ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • CGNT ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodRELXMSACGNTSPY
1 month +19.9%+0.1%+17.0% -0.8%
3 months +12.7%+4.0%+14.5% +3.5%
6 months +10.4%+6.8%+5.6% +7.0%
Year to date -0.6%+14.0%+6.1% +12.2%
1 year -13.7%+8.6%+19.0% +13.0%
3 years +17.9%+15.9%+148.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +5.6%+5.0%+35.4% +23.1%
5 years +29.7%+20.0%-52.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year +5.3%+3.7%-13.7% +11.0%
10 years +126.3%+228.8%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +8.5%+12.6%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureRELXMSACGNTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.3%25.5%52.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.0%24.1%56.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.200.821.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.390.340.36 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.2%-34.9%-89.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.9%-10.1%-18.5% -1.8%
52-week high $46.64$203.08$12.24 $779.14
52-week low $27.73$152.94$6.34 $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.

MultipleRELXMSACGNT
P/E now vs peer median —median 28.8x 22.5xmedian 26.0x 208.3xmedian 28.8x
P/S now vs peer median —median 2.8x 3.6xmedian 1.9x 1.7xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.7x 15.3xmedian 14.0x 21.3xmedian 17.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 15.8x 19.9xmedian 21.4x 25.2xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 43.9xmedian 3.2x 5.0xmedian 2.2x 3.3xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.85 0.12median 1.26 7.73median 0.85

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 monthsRELXMSACGNT
Revenue – $1.95B $421.71M
Gross profit – $925.88M $307.70M
Operating income – $413.17M $17.43M
Net income – $314.01M $4.85M
Free cash flow – $354.30M $28.96M
R&D – $68.19M $127.59M
EPS (diluted) – $8.11 $0.05
Cash & equivalents $291.59M $200.06M $102.17M
Total debt $3.11B $599.74M –
Shares (diluted) 1.84B 38.70M 72.91M
Enterprise value $70.61B $6.22B $307.40M

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
MetricRELXMSACGNT
P/E – 22.5x 208.3x
P/FCF – 19.9x 25.2x
P/Operating cash flow – 17.4x 17.6x
P/S – 3.6x 1.7x
P/B 43.9x 5.0x 3.3x
P/Tangible book -29.7x 6.3x 3.4x
EV/EBITDA – 15.3x 21.3x
EV/EBIT – 18.0x 35.9x
EV/Revenue – 3.8x 1.5x
EV/FCF – 21.0x 21.6x
EV/Operating cash flow – 18.4x 15.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.12 7.73

Growth

14 metrics
MetricRELXMSACGNT
Revenue growth (1Y) – 6.5% 12.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 5.2% 12.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 8.2% 15.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 6.7% 17.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 10.8% 406.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 34.5% 31.9%
Net income growth (1Y) – 13.4% 202.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 186.8% 27.4%
EPS growth (1Y) – 15.3% 201.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 188.5% 26.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 26.3% 56.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 96.0% 38.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 40.3% 53.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 72.1% 66.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricRELXMSACGNT
Gross margin – 47.6% 73.0%
EBITDA margin – 25.1% 7.0%
Operating margin – 21.2% 4.1%
Pretax margin – 21.1% 3.1%
Net margin – 16.1% 0.8%
FCF margin – 18.2% 6.9%
Operating cash flow margin – 20.9% 9.8%
Return on equity – 22.8% 2.2%
Return on assets – 12.2% 0.9%
Return on invested capital – 15.9% –
Return on capital employed – 18.0% 5.9%
Asset turnover – 0.8x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.3x 8.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.0% 5.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricRELXMSACGNT
Debt / assets 15.6% 23.1% –
Debt / equity 1.9x 0.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.8x –
Debt / FCF – 1.7x –
Liabilities / assets 91.7% 46.1% 56.6%
Equity / assets 8.3% 53.9% 43.4%
Interest coverage – 12.7x 113.9x
Current ratio – 3.2x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.4x 1.9x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.7x 0.5x
Altman Z-score – 5.99 2.22

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricRELXMSACGNT
Dividend yield 2.3% 1.2% –
Net buyback yield – 1.8% -2.8%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 2.9% -2.8%
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.

ConsensusRELXMSACGNT
Forward P/E 22.2xFY2026 19.6xFY2026 20.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.81FY2026 $9.33FY2026 $0.48FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.4%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +71.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.9% +3.4% +68.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $13.79BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026 $426.78MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.4%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026 +6.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.4% +19.6% +18.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersRELXMSACGNT
Held by institutions 4.7% 91.0% 67.2%
Institutions holding 439 457 133
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.2% +3.0% -2.8%
Institutions buying 220 236 75
Institutions selling 157 147 33
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.61 2.27

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.

RELXMSACGNT
RELX 1.00 -0.01 0.33
MSA -0.01 1.00 -0.03
CGNT 0.33 -0.03 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, RELX, MSA and CGNT?

Relx (RELX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Relx (RELX) $71.51B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.94B, Cognyte Software (CGNT) $742.22M.

Which stock is cheaper, RELX, MSA and CGNT?

MSA Safety (MSA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (MSA Safety (MSA) 22.1x, Cognyte Software (CGNT) 212.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, MSA Safety (MSA) is cheapest (Relx (RELX) 22.2x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.6x, Cognyte Software (CGNT) 20.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cognyte Software (CGNT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%, Cognyte Software (CGNT) +12.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%, Cognyte Software (CGNT) 0.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cognyte Software (CGNT) returned the most: Relx (RELX) -13.7%, MSA Safety (MSA) +8.6%, Cognyte Software (CGNT) +19.0%. Over five years, Relx (RELX) compounded fastest (Relx (RELX) +5.3%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.7%/yr, Cognyte Software (CGNT) -13.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, MSA Safety (MSA) has been the steadiest (Relx (RELX) 35.3%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%, Cognyte Software (CGNT) 52.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, RELX, MSA and CGNT?

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.