MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA – Get Rating) and Vicarious Surgical (NYSE:RBOT – Get Rating) are both industrial products companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.
Profitability
This table compares MSA Safety and Vicarious Surgical's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Get
MSA Safety alerts:
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
| MSA Safety | 4.46% | 25.89% | 9.06% |
| Vicarious Surgical | N/A | -68.56% | -45.62% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares MSA Safety and Vicarious Surgical's gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
| MSA Safety | $1.40 billion | 3.71 | $21.34 million | $1.68 | 78.84 |
| Vicarious Surgical | N/A | N/A | -$35.21 million | $0.71 | 3.28 |
MSA Safety has higher revenue and earnings than Vicarious Surgical. Vicarious Surgical is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MSA Safety, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for MSA Safety and Vicarious Surgical, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
| MSA Safety | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Vicarious Surgical | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
MSA Safety currently has a consensus target price of $161.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.56%. Vicarious Surgical has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 157.51%. Given Vicarious Surgical's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Vicarious Surgical is more favorable than MSA Safety.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
80.4% of MSA Safety shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.8% of Vicarious Surgical shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of MSA Safety shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 52.5% of Vicarious Surgical shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Volatility & Risk
MSA Safety has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vicarious Surgical has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
MSA Safety beats Vicarious Surgical on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.
About MSA Safety
(Get Rating)
MSA Safety Incorporated develops, manufactures, and supplies safety products that protect people and facility infrastructures in the oil, gas, petrochemical, fire service, construction, industrial manufacturing applications, utilities, military, and mining industries in North America, Latin America, and internationally. The company's core product offerings include permanently installed fixed gas and flame detection instruments, such as permanently installed gas detection monitoring systems, and flame detectors and open-path infrared gas detectors, as well as replacement components and related services to detect the presence or absence of various gases in the air. Its core product offerings also comprise breathing apparatus products, such as self-contained breathing apparatus; hand-held portable gas detection instruments; industrial head protection products; firefighter helmets and protective apparel; and fall protection equipment, including 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 product under the V-Gard, Cairns, and Gallet brand names. MSA Safety Incorporated was founded in 1914 and is based in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.
About Vicarious Surgical
(Get Rating)
Vicarious Surgical Inc. operates as a robotics technology company in the United States. The company focuses on developing and commercializing Vicarious System, a single-incision surgical robot that virtually transports surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery. Vicarious Surgical Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Receive News & Ratings for MSA Safety Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MSA Safety and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
