Pitney Bowes (PBI) Competitors

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) and MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) are both mid-cap office services & supplies companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Which has better valuation & earnings, PBI or MSA?

MSA Safety Incorporporated has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Pitney Bowes. Pitney Bowes 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pitney Bowes	$2.03B	1.11	-$203.60M	-$0.91	-13.48
MSA Safety Incorporporated	$1.81B	3.86	$284.97M	$7.25	24.52

Which has more volatility & risk, PBI or MSA?

Pitney Bowes has a beta of 1.6, meaning that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MSA Safety Incorporporated has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is PBI or MSA more profitable?

MSA Safety Incorporporated has a net margin of 15.77% compared to Pitney Bowes' net margin of -7.18%. MSA Safety Incorporporated's return on equity of 27.65% beat Pitney Bowes' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pitney Bowes	-7.18%	-31.61%	4.53%
MSA Safety Incorporporated	15.77%	27.65%	13.77%

Is PBI or MSA a better dividend stock?

Pitney Bowes pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. MSA Safety Incorporporated pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Pitney Bowes pays out -30.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MSA Safety Incorporporated pays out 29.2% 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. Pitney Bowes has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and MSA Safety Incorporporated has raised its dividend for 56 consecutive years. Pitney Bowes is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of PBI or MSA?

67.9% of Pitney Bowes shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.0% of Pitney Bowes 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 company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer PBI or MSA?

In the previous week, MSA Safety Incorporporated had 7 more articles in the media than Pitney Bowes. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for MSA Safety Incorporporated and 5 mentions for Pitney Bowes. Pitney Bowes' average media sentiment score of 0.74 beat MSA Safety Incorporporated's score of 0.57 indicating that Pitney Bowes is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Pitney Bowes	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
MSA Safety Incorporporated	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend PBI or MSA?

MSA Safety Incorporporated has a consensus price target of $189.20, suggesting a potential upside of 6.44%. Given MSA Safety Incorporporated's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe MSA Safety Incorporporated is more favorable than Pitney Bowes.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pitney Bowes	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
MSA Safety Incorporporated	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Summary

MSA Safety Incorporporated beats Pitney Bowes on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.