RELX vs MSA Stock Comparison

Relx and MSA Safety Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
RELX Relx Plc
$40.17 +19.9% 1M -13.7% 1Y
Market cap
$71.54B
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
$6.95B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

5 decided of 12

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

QuestionRELXMSALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $71.54B $6.95B RELX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only — 22.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.2x 19.6x MSA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +6.5% –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 16.1% –
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% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -13.7% +8.6% MSA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.3%/yr +3.7%/yr RELX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.3% 25.5% MSA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 77/100 –

Percentile Scorecard

RELXMSA

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

AxisRELXMSA
Valuation – 55 #91 of 203
Growth – 86 #27 of 187
Profitability – 97 #7 of 185
Financial Health 19 #89 of 109 76 #53 of 219
Shareholder Returns 52 #31 of 64 73 #42 of 153
Overall – 77
  • RELX ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

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

Risk

MeasureRELXMSASPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.3%25.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.0%24.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.200.82 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.390.34 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.2%-34.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.9%-10.1% -1.8%
52-week high $46.64$203.08 $779.14
52-week low $27.73$152.94 $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.

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

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 monthsRELXMSA
Revenue – $1.95B
Gross profit – $925.88M
Operating income – $413.17M
Net income – $314.01M
Free cash flow – $354.30M
R&D – $68.19M
EPS (diluted) – $8.11
Cash & equivalents $291.59M $200.06M
Total debt $3.11B $599.74M
Shares (diluted) 1.84B 38.70M
Enterprise value $70.63B $6.23B

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
MetricRELXMSA
P/E – 22.5x
P/FCF – 19.9x
P/Operating cash flow – 17.4x
P/S – 3.6x
P/B 43.9x 5.0x
P/Tangible book -29.7x 6.3x
EV/EBITDA – 15.3x
EV/EBIT – 18.0x
EV/Revenue – 3.8x
EV/FCF – 21.0x
EV/Operating cash flow – 18.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.12

Growth

14 metrics
MetricRELXMSA
Revenue growth (1Y) – 6.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 5.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 8.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 6.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 10.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 34.5%
Net income growth (1Y) – 13.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 186.8%
EPS growth (1Y) – 15.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 188.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 26.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 96.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 40.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 72.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricRELXMSA
Gross margin – 47.6%
EBITDA margin – 25.1%
Operating margin – 21.2%
Pretax margin – 21.1%
Net margin – 16.1%
FCF margin – 18.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 20.9%
Return on equity – 22.8%
Return on assets – 12.2%
Return on invested capital – 15.9%
Return on capital employed – 18.0%
Asset turnover – 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricRELXMSA
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%
Equity / assets 8.3% 53.9%
Interest coverage – 12.7x
Current ratio – 3.2x
Quick ratio 0.4x 1.9x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.7x
Altman Z-score – 5.99

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricRELXMSA
Dividend yield 2.3% 1.2%
Net buyback yield – 1.8%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 2.9%
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.

ConsensusRELXMSA
Forward P/E 22.2xFY2026 19.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.81FY2026 $9.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.4%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.9% +3.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $13.79BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.4%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.4% +19.6%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

RELXMSA
RELX 1.00 -0.01
MSA -0.01 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, RELX and MSA?

Relx (RELX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Relx (RELX) $71.54B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.95B.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year MSA Safety (MSA) returned the most: Relx (RELX) -13.7%, MSA Safety (MSA) +8.6%. Over five years, Relx (RELX) compounded fastest (Relx (RELX) +5.3%/yr, MSA Safety (MSA) +3.7%/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%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do RELX and MSA move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of -0.01, a negative relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, RELX and MSA?

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 3. 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.