One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$47.06 our estimate vs market $39.06
Wall Street consensus: $53.35 (13.4% higher than our fair-value estimate)
17% below our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
RELX PLC
RELX · NYQ · Industrials · Specialty Business Services
Current price
$39.06
52-week range
$27.57 - $47.22
Market cap
$67.84B
Balance sheet
Distressed
10.93x Adequate
Net debt $11.58B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 1.7% last year.
- Reward Returns 131.9% on equity, ahead of 80% of its peers.
- Risk Net debt grew 11.6% over 3 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.4%).
What this company does
RELX PLC
RELX sells specialized information and analysis tools that professionals like scientists, doctors, and lawyers rely on to do their jobs. The company makes most of its money through subscriptions, which creates reliable recurring revenue (income that comes in consistently) because this information is vital for its customers' daily work. RELX also organizes large professional trade shows and events for various industries.
How the company got here
RELX's story begins with the 1993 merger of Reed International, a British publisher of books and magazines, and Elsevier, a Dutch scientific publisher. Originally known as Reed Elsevier, the company has transformed from a traditional publisher into a global provider of data and analytics. A key shift was expanding into risk management, using data to help businesses with things like fraud detection. In 2015, the company rebranded to RELX to reflect its focus on information-based analytics and decision tools.
What it actually does
RELX is a company that sells specialized information and data analysis to professionals in various fields. Think of it as providing experts with the specific, high-quality information and tools they need to do their jobs better. For example, they help scientists with their research, doctors make better decisions for patients, and lawyers build their cases. They also provide tools that help businesses and governments prevent fraud.
Risk
This is RELX's largest segment, making up about a third of the company's business. It provides tools that help organizations evaluate and predict risk. For instance, insurance companies use these tools to detect fraudulent claims, and banks use them to screen for money laundering. Customers, which include businesses, insurance companies, and government agencies, pay for access to this data and analysis, often through subscriptions or on a per-transaction basis.
Scientific, Technical & Medical
This division, which operates mainly under the brand name Elsevier, provides information and tools for scientists, doctors, and researchers. It's like a massive digital library and lab assistant combined, offering access to scientific journals, medical data, and research tools to help advance science and healthcare. Universities, hospitals, and research institutions pay for subscriptions to access this vast amount of information. This segment accounts for a significant portion of RELX's revenue.
Legal
Operating under the LexisNexis brand, this segment provides legal and business information and analytics to law firms, corporate legal departments, and governments. It offers tools for legal research, case analysis, and document drafting, helping legal professionals work more efficiently and make more informed decisions. Customers subscribe to these services to access a huge database of laws, court cases, and other legal documents. This part of the business makes up a substantial portion of the company's sales.
Exhibitions
This part of the company, known as RX, organizes trade shows and events for various industries. It's the world's largest exhibitions company, creating marketplaces where businesses can connect with customers, discover new products, and generate sales leads. Companies pay to have a booth and exhibit their products and services to attendees. While a smaller part of RELX's overall business, it helps companies in over 40 industry sectors connect with millions of participants globally.
What management is betting on now
The company's main focus is on developing more advanced information-based analytics and decision tools, essentially making their products smarter and more valuable to their professional customers. A huge part of this strategy is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to analyze the vast amounts of data they have. They are particularly focused on embedding AI into their legal and scientific products to help with tasks like research and drafting. The goal is to become deeply integrated into their customers' daily workflows, making their tools indispensable.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $47.06 vs current price $39.06
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $53.35 (13.4% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $47.06 a share — about 20.5% away from today's price of $39.06, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $11.6B. Interest coverage 10.9x.
Net debt
$11.58B
Interest coverage
10.93x
RELX PLC's profit covers its interest bill about 10.9 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
RELX
BASELINE
RELX PLC
Total debt $11.87B Interest coverage 10.93x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $15.75B Interest coverage 21.52x +97% vs RELX Carries about 2.0x more debt cushion than RELX.
Total debt $7.62B Interest coverage 12.32x +13% vs RELX Has roughly the same debt cushion as RELX.
Total debt $3.20B Interest coverage 10.87x -1% vs RELX Has roughly the same debt cushion as RELX.
Total debt $4.62B Interest coverage 7.86x -28% vs RELX Carries about 1.4x less debt cushion than RELX.
Total debt $1.54B Interest coverage 13.29x +22% vs RELX Carries about 1.2x more debt cushion than RELX.
What you should know
The case for and against RELX
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 1.7% last year.
-
Returns 131.9% on equity, ahead of 80% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 11.6% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.4%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
23.39x
Forward P/E
18.27x
P/B
165.59x
P/S
6.98x
EV/EBITDA
85.69x
PEG ratio
1.33x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
66.4%
Operating margin
32.0%
Net margin
23.3%
ROE
131.9%
ROA
13.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
7.10x
Current ratio
0.45x
Quick ratio
0.39x
Total debt
$11.87B
Total cash
$293.25M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$12.96B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
3.9%
EPS TTM
1.67
EPS 5Y CAGR
9.8%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$3.78B
Free CF TTM
$3.08B
FCF margin
23.8%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
2.3%
Payout ratio
53.6%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-07