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 superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, 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	1.01	-$203.60M	-$0.91	-12.31
MSA Safety Incorporporated	$1.81B	3.73	$284.97M	$7.25	23.68

Do analysts recommend PBI or MSA?

MSA Safety Incorporporated has a consensus price target of $191.80, suggesting a potential upside of 11.74%. Given MSA Safety Incorporporated's stronger consensus rating and higher probable 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)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Does the media favor PBI or MSA?

In the previous week, Pitney Bowes had 2 more articles in the media than MSA Safety Incorporporated. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Pitney Bowes and 8 mentions for MSA Safety Incorporporated. MSA Safety Incorporporated's average media sentiment score of 1.49 beat Pitney Bowes' score of 0.52 indicating that MSA Safety Incorporporated is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Pitney Bowes	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
MSA Safety Incorporporated	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, PBI or MSA?

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

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

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 2.5%. 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 increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and MSA Safety Incorporporated has increased its dividend for 56 consecutive years. Pitney Bowes is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

MSA Safety Incorporporated beats Pitney Bowes on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.