MSA Safety Incorporporated (MSA) Competitors

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) and Graco (NYSE:GGG) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, media sentiment and risk.

Is MSA or GGG more profitable?

Graco has a net margin of 22.26% compared to MSA Safety Incorporporated's net margin of 15.15%. MSA Safety Incorporporated's return on equity of 26.03% beat Graco's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MSA Safety Incorporporated	15.15%	26.03%	13.16%
Graco	22.26%	19.05%	15.77%

Is MSA or GGG a better dividend stock?

MSA Safety Incorporporated pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Graco pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSA Safety Incorporporated pays out 30.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Graco pays out 39.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. MSA Safety Incorporporated has raised its dividend for 56 consecutive years and Graco has raised its dividend for 29 consecutive years.

Do analysts recommend MSA or GGG?

MSA Safety Incorporporated presently has a consensus target price of $189.20, suggesting a potential upside of 8.40%. Graco has a consensus target price of $94.50, suggesting a potential upside of 13.18%. Given Graco's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Graco is more favorable than MSA Safety Incorporporated.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MSA Safety Incorporporated	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Graco	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in MSA or GGG?

92.5% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Graco shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Graco shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, MSA or GGG?

MSA Safety Incorporporated has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Graco has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, MSA or GGG?

Graco has higher revenue and earnings than MSA Safety Incorporporated. MSA Safety Incorporporated is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Graco, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MSA Safety Incorporporated	$1.81B	3.78	$284.97M	$7.01	24.90
Graco	$2.11B	6.55	$486.08M	$2.82	29.61

Does the media favor MSA or GGG?

In the previous week, MSA Safety Incorporporated had 35 more articles in the media than Graco. MarketBeat recorded 42 mentions for MSA Safety Incorporporated and 7 mentions for Graco. Graco's average media sentiment score of 1.65 beat MSA Safety Incorporporated's score of 0.88 indicating that Graco is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
MSA Safety Incorporporated	15 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Graco	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

Graco beats MSA Safety Incorporporated on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.