MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) and Broadwind Energy (NASDAQ:BWEN) Critical Contrast

Broadwind Energy (NASDAQ:BWEN) and MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Broadwind Energy	3.90%	-1.54%	-0.87%
MSA Safety Incorporporated	16.13%	25.13%	13.24%

Risk and Volatility

Broadwind Energy has a beta of 1.76, suggesting that its share price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MSA Safety Incorporporated has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Broadwind Energy and MSA Safety Incorporporated, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Broadwind Energy	0	1	2	0	2.67
MSA Safety Incorporporated	0	4	2	0	2.33

Broadwind Energy presently has a consensus target price of $6.25, indicating a potential upside of 47.06%. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a consensus target price of $211.33, indicating a potential upside of 16.54%. Given Broadwind Energy’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Broadwind Energy is more favorable than MSA Safety Incorporporated.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Broadwind Energy and MSA Safety Incorporporated”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Broadwind Energy	$158.05 million	0.64	$5.24 million	$0.23	18.48
MSA Safety Incorporporated	$1.87 billion	3.73	$278.92 million	$8.04	22.55

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

33.3% of Broadwind Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.1% of Broadwind Energy shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

MSA Safety Incorporporated beats Broadwind Energy on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Broadwind Energy

Broadwind, Inc. manufactures and sells structures, equipment, and components for clean tech and other specialized applications primarily in the United States. It operates through three segments: Heavy Fabrications, Gearing, and Industrial Solutions. The Heavy Fabrications segment provides fabrications to various industrial markets. It offers steel towers and adapters primarily to wind turbine manufacturers. Its Gearing segment provides gearing, gearboxes, and precision machined components to a range of customers in diverse markets, including surface and underground mining, wind energy, steel, material handling, infrastructure, onshore and offshore oil and gas fracking and drilling, marine, and other industrial markets. This segment also offers heat treat services for aftermarket and original equipment manufacturer applications. The Industrial Solutions segment provides supply chain solutions for offering instrumentation and controls, valve assemblies, sensor devices, fuel system components, electrical junction boxes and wiring, energy storage services, and electromechanical devices; light fabrication, inventory management, and kitting and assembly services; packaging solutions; and supply chain solutions, light fabrication, inventory management, and kitting and assembly services for combined cycle natural gas turbine market. It sells its products to the energy, mining, and infrastructure sectors through its direct sales force and independent sales agents. The company was formerly known as Broadwind Energy, Inc. and changed its name to Broadwind, Inc. in May 2020. Broadwind, Inc. is headquartered in Cicero, Illinois.

About MSA Safety Incorporporated

MSA Safety Incorporated develops, manufactures, and supplies safety products and technology solutions that protect people and facility infrastructures in the fire service, energy, utility, construction, and industrial manufacturing applications, as well as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration industries worldwide. The company's core product offerings include fixed gas and flame detection systems, such as gas detection monitoring systems, and flame detectors and open-path infrared gas detectors; breathing apparatus products, including self-contained breathing apparatus; hand-held portable gas detection instruments to detect the presence or absence of various gases in the air; industrial head protection products; firefighter helmets and protective apparel; and fall protection equipment, such as confined space equipment, harnesses, lanyards, and self-retracting lifelines, as well as engineered systems. In addition, the company offers air-purifying respirators, eye and face protection products, ballistic helmets, and gas masks. It serves distributors and end-users through indirect and direct sales channels. The company offers its products under the V-Gard, Cairns, and Gallet brand names. MSA Safety Incorporated was founded in 1914 and is based in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.