MSA Safety Incorporated (MSA) Key Metrics
MSA valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $6.91B
- Enterprise value
- $7.50B
- P/E (TTM)
- 22.3 10-yr median 33.8
- Forward P/E
- 19.6
- PEG ratio
- 0.99
- Price / sales
- 3.5 10-yr median 3.6
- Price / book
- 5.0 10-yr median 5.9
- EV / EBITDA
- 14.5 10-yr median 20.5
- Dividend yield
- 1.21% $2.16 a year
- Beta
- 0.91
MSA key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsMSA valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
MSA returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
MSA per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
MSA financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
MSA efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
MSA valuation history
MSA returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
MSA debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
MSA cash returned to shareholders
MSA price vs earnings per share
MSA key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $6.30B | $6.55B | $6.66B | $5.68B | $5.96B | $5.87B | $4.95B | $3.67B | $3.00B | $2.63B |
| Enterprise value | $6.76B | $6.94B | $7.16B | $6.12B | $6.42B | $5.98B | $5.15B | $3.84B | $3.34B | $2.91B |
| P/E ratio | 22.6 | 23.0 | 113.8 | 31.6 | 279.1 | 47.3 | 35.9 | 29.6 | 115.3 | 28.6 |
| Price / sales | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.3 |
| Price / book | 4.6 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 5.7 | 5.0 | 4.7 |
| Price / free cash flow | 21.3 | 27.1 | 133.0 | 50.1 | 39.7 | 37.2 | 38.6 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 24.1 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 17.3 | 22.1 | 71.8 | 36.1 | 29.9 | 28.4 | 30.0 | 13.8 | 13.0 | 19.5 |
| EV / sales | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
| EV / EBITDA | 14.4 | 14.6 | 22.8 | 19.3 | 75.8 | 27.5 | 21.7 | 17.5 | 40.2 | 14.3 |
| EV / free cash flow | 22.9 | 28.7 | 143.0 | 53.9 | 42.8 | 38.0 | 40.1 | 16.7 | 16.2 | 26.6 |
| Earnings yield | 4.4% | 4.3% | 0.9% | 3.2% | 0.4% | 2.1% | 2.8% | 3.4% | 0.9% | 3.5% |
| Free cash flow yield | 4.7% | 3.7% | 0.8% | 2.0% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 2.6% | 6.3% | 6.9% | 4.2% |
| Dividend yield | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 1.9% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 2.7% | 1.8% | 1.2% | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.7% | 2.3% | 1.9% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $160.14 | $165.77 | $168.83 | $144.19 | $150.96 | $149.39 | $126.36 | $94.27 | $77.52 | $69.33 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $47.65 | $45.74 | $45.29 | $38.77 | $35.49 | $34.32 | $35.77 | $34.86 | $30.93 | $30.26 |
| Earnings per share | $7.09 | $7.21 | $1.48 | $4.56 | $0.54 | $3.16 | $3.52 | $3.19 | $0.67 | $2.42 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $9.25 | $7.50 | $2.35 | $4.00 | $5.05 | $5.26 | $4.21 | $6.85 | $5.95 | $3.55 |
| Free cash flow per share | $7.51 | $6.13 | $1.27 | $2.88 | $3.80 | $4.01 | $3.28 | $5.90 | $5.34 | $2.88 |
| Cash per share | $4.20 | $4.16 | $3.71 | $4.39 | $3.57 | $6.01 | $5.16 | $5.01 | $3.47 | $2.99 |
| Book value per share | $34.74 | $28.92 | $24.49 | $23.44 | $21.15 | $21.36 | $18.52 | $16.41 | $15.57 | $14.77 |
| Tangible book value per share | $8.55 | $6.98 | $1.85 | $0.54 | −$2.77 | $5.98 | $3.01 | $1.45 | −$0.07 | $3.97 |
| Dividends per share | $2.09 | $1.99 | $1.86 | $1.81 | $1.74 | $1.69 | $1.62 | $1.47 | $1.36 | $1.29 |
| Capex per share | $1.74 | $1.37 | $1.08 | $1.12 | $1.25 | $1.24 | $0.93 | $0.95 | $0.61 | $0.67 |
| Debt per share | $15.94 | $14.01 | $16.37 | $15.43 | $15.39 | $8.95 | $10.21 | $9.28 | $12.26 | $10.28 |
| Shares outstanding | 39.3M | 39.5M | 39.5M | 39.4M | 39.4M | 39.3M | 39.2M | 39.0M | 38.7M | 38.0M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −0.5% | +0.2% | +0.2% | −0.1% | +0.4% | +0.2% | +0.6% | +0.7% | +1.9% | +0.7% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 22.2% | 27.0% | 6.2% | 20.4% | 2.6% | 15.9% | 20.2% | 20.0% | 4.5% | 17.1% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 18.2% | 19.7% | 8.2% | 13.5% | 1.9% | 13.6% | 16.3% | 15.3% | 4.0% | 11.6% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 11.7% | 13.0% | 2.6% | 7.5% | 1.0% | 6.8% | 8.2% | 7.5% | 1.7% | 6.6% |
| Return on tangible assets | 18.3% | 21.3% | 4.6% | 12.2% | 1.5% | 9.4% | 12.2% | 12.1% | 2.4% | 9.7% |
| Free cash flow margin | 15.8% | 13.4% | 2.8% | 7.4% | 10.7% | 11.7% | 9.2% | 16.9% | 17.3% | 9.5% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 1.30 | 1.04 | 1.59 | 0.88 | 9.33 | 1.66 | 1.20 | 2.15 | 8.85 | 1.47 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $627.1M | $554.0M | $646.2M | $608.2M | $607.2M | $351.8M | $400.2M | $361.4M | $474.5M | $390.5M |
| Cash & short-term investments | $165.1M | $164.6M | $146.4M | $172.8M | $140.9M | $236.0M | $202.4M | $195.2M | $134.2M | $113.8M |
| Net debt | $462.0M | $389.4M | $499.7M | $435.4M | $466.3M | $115.8M | $197.8M | $166.2M | $340.3M | $276.7M |
| Debt / equity | 0.46 | 0.48 | 0.67 | 0.66 | 0.73 | 0.42 | 0.55 | 0.57 | 0.79 | 0.70 |
| Debt / assets | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.30 | 0.26 | 0.25 | 0.18 | 0.23 | 0.22 | 0.28 | 0.29 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.98 | 0.82 | 1.59 | 1.38 | 5.51 | 0.53 | 0.83 | 0.76 | 4.10 | 1.36 |
| Current ratio | 3.01 | 2.79 | 2.36 | 2.54 | 2.40 | 2.58 | 2.50 | 2.33 | 2.15 | 2.14 |
| Quick ratio | 1.82 | 1.76 | 1.48 | 1.57 | 1.55 | 1.79 | 1.83 | 1.77 | 1.62 | 1.67 |
| Interest coverage | 12.6 | 10.5 | 4.9 | 11.0 | 2.1 | 18.2 | 13.9 | 9.2 | 2.6 | 9.8 |
| Working capital | $580.1M | $514.9M | $453.5M | $534.3M | $462.2M | $490.9M | $415.9M | $374.6M | $333.0M | $251.4M |
| Invested capital | $1.83B | $1.53B | $1.47B | $1.36B | $1.30B | $955.0M | $923.6M | $805.7M | $942.8M | $838.0M |
| Tangible asset value | $336.3M | $276.0M | $73.1M | $21.2M | −$109.4M | $242.9M | $124.6M | $56.4M | −$2.6M | $150.9M |
| Net current asset value | −$318.1M | −$259.4M | −$417.1M | −$573.1M | −$769.2M | −$271.0M | −$313.8M | −$311.9M | −$460.0M | −$319.9M |
| Graham number | $74.44 | $68.48 | $28.60 | $49.03 | $16.04 | $38.96 | $38.31 | $34.31 | $15.35 | $28.36 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$15.78 | −$13.66 | −$17.47 | −$22.43 | −$27.56 | −$13.06 | −$13.08 | −$13.05 | −$17.44 | −$12.26 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $82.3M | $78.8M | $73.5M | $71.5M | $68.6M | $66.6M | $63.5M | $57.2M | $52.5M | $49.1M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $90.0M | $37.3M | $4.0M | $34.4M | $6.2M | $29.1M | $12.6M | $4.8M | $17.5M | $1.9M |
| Dividend payout ratio | 29.5% | 27.6% | 125.4% | 39.8% | 321.4% | 53.7% | 46.0% | 46.1% | 201.9% | 53.4% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 58.3% | 47.9% | 154.6% | 93.3% | 49.8% | 60.7% | 59.3% | 27.0% | 33.9% | 46.6% |
| Capex / revenue | 3.7% | 3.0% | 2.4% | 2.9% | 3.5% | 3.6% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2.0% | 2.2% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 18.8% | 18.3% | 46.1% | 27.9% | 24.7% | 23.7% | 22.2% | 13.8% | 10.3% | 18.9% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.96 | 0.84 | 0.70 | 0.78 | 0.98 | 1.23 | 0.96 | 0.97 | 0.63 | 0.72 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 0.8% | 1.0% | 1.7% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 0.8% |
| R&D / revenue | 3.5% | 3.7% | 3.8% | 3.7% | 4.1% | 4.3% | 4.1% | 3.9% | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| SG&A / revenue | 22.1% | 21.8% | 21.3% | 22.2% | 23.8% | 21.5% | 23.6% | 23.9% | 24.9% | 26.6% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 57.0 | 57.9 | 61.0 | 67.0 | 68.6 | 72.3 | 67.0 | 68.5 | 72.8 | 72.6 |
| Days of inventory on hand | 116.3 | 113.5 | 123.1 | 132.2 | 122.2 | 104.3 | 81.7 | 75.9 | 71.2 | 66.6 |
| Days payables outstanding | 39.8 | 42.4 | 43.8 | 46.9 | 45.0 | 42.7 | 40.0 | 40.5 | 41.6 | 38.1 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | 133.5 | 129.1 | 140.3 | 152.4 | 145.8 | 133.9 | 108.7 | 104.0 | 102.5 | 101.1 |
| Receivables turnover | 6.40 | 6.30 | 5.98 | 5.45 | 5.32 | 5.05 | 5.45 | 5.32 | 5.02 | 5.03 |
| Payables turnover | 9.17 | 8.61 | 8.34 | 7.79 | 8.11 | 8.56 | 9.12 | 9.02 | 8.78 | 9.58 |
| Inventory turnover | 3.14 | 3.22 | 2.97 | 2.76 | 2.99 | 3.50 | 4.47 | 4.81 | 5.12 | 5.48 |
| Asset turnover | 0.79 | 0.83 | 0.79 | 0.64 | 0.65 | 0.74 | 0.84 | 0.82 | 0.79 | 0.83 |
| Average receivables | $292.8M | $286.9M | $298.8M | $280.5M | $263.1M | $267.2M | $257.5M | $255.1M | $238.6M | $228.7M |
| Average payables | $109.5M | $110.0M | $112.2M | $109.7M | $96.8M | $88.0M | $83.7M | $82.7M | $74.9M | $65.5M |
| Average inventory | $319.9M | $294.7M | $315.5M | $309.5M | $262.8M | $215.0M | $170.8M | $155.2M | $128.4M | $114.5M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 40.4% | 39.3% | 41.2% | 38.0% | 39.4% | 31.5% | 34.9% | 36.3% | 35.9% | 30.3% |
Computed from MSA's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 12, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
MSA valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), MSA Safety traded at 22.6 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 33.8. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 22.3 and the forward P/E is 19.6. MSA Safety earned a return on equity of 22.2% and a return on invested capital of 18.2% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $627.1 million of debt and $165.1 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $462.0 million. It returned $172.3 million to shareholders: $82.3 million in dividends and $90.0 million in share buybacks, 58% of free cash flow. The share count rose 3.6% from 38.0M to 39.3M over 9 years.
See the MSA income statement, the MSA chart for price history, or the MSA stock overview for the latest quote and news.
MSA key metrics FAQ
What is MSA Safety's P/E ratio?
MSA Safety's trailing P/E ratio is 22.3 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 19.6. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 22.6, compared with a 10-year median of 33.8.
What is MSA Safety's EV/EBITDA?
MSA Safety's enterprise value was 14.4 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $6.8 billion, EBITDA $469.8 million); the current EV/EBITDA is 14.5.
What is MSA Safety's return on equity?
MSA Safety's return on equity (ROE) was 22.2% in fiscal 2025: net income of $278.9 million on average shareholders' equity of $1.3 billion.
What is MSA Safety's ROIC?
MSA Safety's return on invested capital was 18.2% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does MSA Safety have?
MSA Safety had total debt of $627.1 million at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46 and $462.0 million of net debt (0.98 times EBITDA).
What is MSA Safety's dividend yield?
MSA Safety's forward dividend yield is 1.21%. MSA Safety paid $82.3 million in dividends in fiscal 2025 ($2.09 per share), a payout ratio of 29.5%.
Does MSA Safety buy back its shares?
Yes. MSA Safety spent $90.0 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed −0.5% over the year, to 39.3M..
What is MSA Safety's free cash flow yield?
MSA Safety generated $295.4 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 4.7% on its market value at year-end ($6.3 billion).
What is MSA Safety's current ratio?
MSA Safety's current ratio was 3.01 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 3.01 times current liabilities.