Head-To-Head Review: MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) & Life360 (NASDAQ:LIF)

Life360 (NASDAQ:LIF) and MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Life360 and MSA Safety Incorporporated, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Life360	0	3	6	0	2.67
MSA Safety Incorporporated	0	3	3	0	2.50

Life360 presently has a consensus price target of $90.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.64%. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a consensus price target of $189.20, indicating a potential upside of 18.16%. Given Life360’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Life360 is more favorable than MSA Safety Incorporporated.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

20.0% of Life360 shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.5% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of MSA Safety Incorporporated shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Life360 and MSA Safety Incorporporated”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Life360	$371.48 million	15.20	-$4.55 million	$0.32	227.47
MSA Safety Incorporporated	$1.86 billion	3.36	$284.97 million	$7.09	22.58

MSA Safety Incorporporated has higher revenue and earnings than Life360. MSA Safety Incorporporated is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Life360, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Life360 and MSA Safety Incorporporated’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Life360	6.46%	8.08%	5.39%
MSA Safety Incorporporated	15.02%	25.23%	12.89%

Volatility and Risk

Life360 has a beta of 3.41, indicating that its stock price is 241% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MSA Safety Incorporporated has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

MSA Safety Incorporporated beats Life360 on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Life360

Life360 Inc. is a family connection and safety company. Its business category includes mobile app and Tile tracking devices with a range of services, including location sharing, safe driver reports and crash detection with emergency dispatch. Life360 Inc. is based in SAN FRANCISCO.

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.