Head-To-Head Review: Timken (NYSE:TKR) vs. MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA)

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) and Timken (NYSE:TKR) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for MSA Safety Incorporporated and Timken, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MSA Safety Incorporporated	0	4	2	0	2.33
Timken	0	3	7	0	2.70

MSA Safety Incorporporated currently has a consensus target price of $209.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.42%. Timken has a consensus target price of $141.20, indicating a potential upside of 27.59%. Given Timken’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Timken is more favorable than MSA Safety Incorporporated.

Risk & Volatility

MSA Safety Incorporporated has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Timken has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

MSA Safety Incorporporated pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Timken pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. MSA Safety Incorporporated pays out 27.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Timken pays out 35.6% 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 increased its dividend for 56 consecutive years and Timken has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares MSA Safety Incorporporated and Timken’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MSA Safety Incorporporated	15.03%	24.86%	12.53%
Timken	5.88%	13.13%	6.52%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.5% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Timken shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of Timken shares are owned 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MSA Safety Incorporporated and Timken”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MSA Safety Incorporporated	$2.01 billion	3.38	$278.92 million	$7.78	22.68
Timken	$4.81 billion	1.58	$288.40 million	$4.04	27.39

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

Summary

Timken beats MSA Safety Incorporporated on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MSA Safety Incorporporated

MSA Safety Incorporated develops and manufactures products that help protect workers and first responders. Its offerings include portable and fixed gas and flame detection systems, respiratory protection equipment, protective helmets and other head and eye protection, and fall protection systems. The company serves customers in industries such as oil and gas, construction, utilities, mining and manufacturing, as well as fire and emergency services. Its products and safety solutions are sold in markets around the world.

About Timken

Timken is a global manufacturer of engineered bearings and industrial motion products. Its offerings include bearings, seals, lubrication systems, chains, belts, couplings and related components designed to support the movement and operation of industrial equipment. The company serves customers across a range of industries, including aerospace, agriculture, construction, energy, rail, mining and manufacturing. In addition to products, Timken provides services such as equipment repair and maintenance to help customers manage machinery performance.