Head-To-Head Contrast: ReWalk Robotics (NASDAQ:LFWD) versus MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA)

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) and ReWalk Robotics (NASDAQ:LFWD) are both industrial products companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for MSA Safety and ReWalk Robotics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MSA Safety	0	0	1	1	3.50
ReWalk Robotics	0	0	1	1	3.50

MSA Safety presently has a consensus price target of $215.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.78%. ReWalk Robotics has a consensus price target of $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 315.34%. Given ReWalk Robotics’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe ReWalk Robotics is more favorable than MSA Safety.

Volatility & Risk

MSA Safety has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ReWalk Robotics has a beta of 2.02, meaning that its share price is 102% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MSA Safety and ReWalk Robotics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MSA Safety	$1.82 billion	3.92	$58.58 million	$6.75	26.82
ReWalk Robotics	$23.28 million	1.16	-$22.13 million	($3.11)	-1.01

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

Profitability

This table compares MSA Safety and ReWalk Robotics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MSA Safety	14.97%	30.64%	13.43%
ReWalk Robotics	-102.03%	-41.89%	-30.83%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.5% of MSA Safety shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 26.8% of ReWalk Robotics shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of MSA Safety shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of ReWalk Robotics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

MSA Safety beats ReWalk Robotics on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MSA Safety

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.

About ReWalk Robotics

ReWalk Robotics Ltd., a medical device company, designs, develops, and commercializes technologies that enable mobility and wellness in rehabilitation and daily life for individuals with physical and neurological conditions in the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. It offers ReWalk personal exoskeleton and rehabilitation exoskeleton devices; ReStore, a soft exo-suit intended for use in the rehabilitation of individuals with lower limb disability due to stroke; AlterG Anti-Gravity System for use in physical and neurological rehabilitation and athletic training; MyoCycle devices; and ReBoot, a personal soft exo-suit for home and community use by individuals post-stroke. The company markets and sells its products directly to institutions and individuals, as well as through third-party distributors. The company was formerly known as Argo Medical Technologies Ltd. ReWalk Robotics Ltd. was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Yokneam Illit, Israel.