MSA Safety (MSA)
Industrials · industrial safety equipment · NYSE
A global leader in advanced industrial safety technology, protecting workers and infrastructure with integrated hardware, PPE, and cloud-enabled software solutions.
What MSA Safety does
MSA Safety provides advanced industrial safety technology products and solutions, including fixed and portable gas detection systems, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), and personal protective equipment (PPE). The company integrates these hardware products with cloud-based software and support services through its MSA+™ ecosystem. MSA operates globally across diverse markets such as fire service, energy, utilities, construction, and HVAC-R.
Themes: industrial safety, gas detection, fire protection, workplace safety, Hardware-enabled SaaS (HeSaaS), recurring revenue software, personal protective equipment (PPE)
Fundamentals
- Price$189.43 as of 2026-08-21 close
- Market cap$7.3B as of 2026-08-21
- 1-year return+11.0% 2025-08-21 close $170.71 → 2026-08-21 close $189.43
- P/E23.50 as of 2026-08-24
- Net margin+16.1% as of 2026-08-24
- Gross margin+47.6% as of 2026-08-24
- ROE+23.2% as of 2026-08-24
- Debt / equity0.43 as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue growth (YoY)+6.5% as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+7.1% SEC XBRL
- Beta0.91 as of 2026-08-24
- Last reported earnings2026-07-30 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
Dividend: yield +1.1%; at least 5 years of non-decreasing per-share dividends (SEC XBRL) — we do not hold the year before it, so the real streak may be longer.
How MSA compares in its sector
- price-to-earnings ratiomiddle range 357 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- net profit margintop 25% 457 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- operating margintop 10% 457 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- gross margintop 25% 455 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- return on equitytop 25% 460 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- 3-year revenue CAGRmiddle range 426 covered Industrials peers
- indicated dividend yieldmiddle range 267 covered Industrials peers, as of 2026-08-24
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)middle range 414 covered Industrials peers, as of FY2025
Position among covered Industrials companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
Top 10 scores & list membership
MSA is not currently in any published Top 10 list. Its scores are below.
Long-term score
59.1 #207 of 987 scored · #21 of 197 in Industrials
Capital return 71st (consecutive years of dividend increases 5 years) and financial health 69th (free cash flow margin 18.2%, debt to equity 0.4); weakest is valuation (43rd, price to book 8.8, price to earnings 23.6).
Short-term score
54.3 #527 of 1,704 scored · #78 of 283 in Industrials
Trend 60th: a trend forming but not yet strong (ADX below 25); setup 58th: no fresh 20-day breakout up or down; weakest is catalysts 39th: open-market insider buys in 90 days 6, analysts' average price target is unchanged from the prior reading.
Scores as of 21 Aug 2026. Each bar is a percentile: how this company ranked against every company the score ranked, 0–100. A list is a published formula and its output, not a recommendation. Method version 2.
Dividend coverage (FY2025)
Covered by reported results. In FY2025, MSA's dividend was covered by reported results (earnings payout 30%, free-cash-flow payout 28%). This describes past coverage, not a forecast.
- Earnings payout30% dividends / net income
- Free-cash-flow payout28% dividends / (operating cash flow − capex)
Coverage derived from reported SEC EDGAR XBRL figures for FY2025 (dividends paid vs. net income and free cash flow, same fiscal year). This describes PAST coverage for one fiscal year — it does not predict whether a dividend will be maintained, raised, or cut, and a one-year payout ratio can be distorted by non-recurring items. Informational only — not financial advice.
How MSA Safety looks technically
MSA Safety (MSA) is trading 9.5% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend. Its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 9 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal. A trend is forming but not yet strong — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 24 (a reading of 25+ marks a strong trend). Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 62, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 6 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative). It made a new 20-day high about 11 trading days ago.
Trend
8
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 9.5% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend | +9.5% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $176.18 | $176.18 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $172.96 | $172.96 |
| Swing structure | its recent peaks and dips disagree — one of them is rising while the other is not, so there is no clean up or down pattern in the swings | mixed — one of the two is not confirming |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing high 10 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 10 sessions |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 9 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal | 9 sessions |
| Above the 200-day after a dip | it recently dipped to its 200-day average (the long-term trend line) and has since climbed back above it — now about 9.5% above | +9.5% |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | a trend is forming but not yet strong — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 24 (a reading of 25+ marks a strong trend) | 23.6 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 62, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 61.7 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading in the lower half of its 14-day range ($186.45 to $196.56) — its "stochastic" reading is 29 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been slipping within that range over the last few sessions. | 29.5 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 6 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative) | 6 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $208.92 | $208.92 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 9.3% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -9.3% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 23.9% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +23.9% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 9.3% below its highest point of the past year | 9.3% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it made a new 20-day high about 11 trading days ago | 11 sessions |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day high about 11 trading days ago | 11 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $208.92 (set on 2026-02-12) | $208.92 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($152.94 to $203.08), and it has given back roughly a quarter of its rise from last year’s low — 27% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $170.49 to $172.09. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 27.2% |
| From the all-time high | it is 9.3% below its all-time high | -9.3% |
| Nearest price level | it is trading 2.9% above a support level at $183.90 — a price it turned at three times since 2024-08-29, most recently on 2026-01-21. Since 2024-08-21 it has 8 such levels below the current price and 0 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | -2.9% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $15.82 (set on 2009-03-04) | $15.82 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 1097.4% above its all-time low | +1,097% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are about average versus its own recent 6-month history | 67th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $4.39 between its high and its low — about 2.3% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $4.39 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $175.75 and $200.78 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $175.75 – $188.26 – $200.78 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 2.3% in a typical session — calmer than most companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 2.3% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 3.8 daily ranges above its 200-day average price (9.5% above it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 3.8 daily ranges above its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 0.69× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts' average price target is unchanged from the prior reading | 0.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | not available for this company yet | n/a |
Candlestick patterns
1
| Since a doji | today it opened and closed at almost the same price after trading through a wider range — a "doji", the classic picture of buyers and sellers finishing the session level | today |
|---|
Price gaps
3
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-08-21 0.6% above the previous session's close — an overnight gap, the part of the move that happened while the market was shut, and traded back through that level before the close | +0.6% |
|---|---|---|
| Open gap | it gapped 5.1% above the previous close 15 sessions ago and has not traded back through the level it left behind at 174.35 — an "unfilled gap", which describes a price range no trade has since crossed and is not a forecast that it will be crossed | +5.1% |
| Gap filled | a 2.1% gap up opened on 2026-06-16 has been "filled" 45 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it took 1 session to close | 45 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it closed higher in its latest session, after a session that did not close higher — a single up day rather than a run | 1 session up |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock beat the market by 9.1 percentage points (the stock gained 11.4% while the market gained 2.3%) | +9.1% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock beat the market by 9.3 percentage points (the stock gained 12.4% while the market gained 3.1%) | +9.3% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock lagged the market by 14.9 percentage points (the stock lost 3.9% while the market gained 11.1%) | -14.9% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock lagged the market by 9.5 percentage points (the stock gained 11.0% while the market gained 20.5%) | -9.5% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 3 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bullish state: a "golden cross" — its 50-day average is above its 200-day, trading above its 200-day average, trading above the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 3 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 2 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bearish state: MACD momentum is negative, lagging the market over 6 months — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 2 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 13% above the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-07-16 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established uptrend, with the band below acting as the level that would have to give way. The band itself is thin, spanning 0.2% of the share price, which is taken to mean a barrier that gives way easily. | +13.0% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 7% above the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $176.23 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 157 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +7.5% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 1% below the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-07-30 (its 8-K), so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $190.89 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 17 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -0.8% |
Price levels it has turned at before
MSA last closed at $189.43 on 2026-08-21. Since 2024-08-21 it has turned at 8 prices below its last close and 0 above; the 3 nearest below are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $183.90 | Support | 2.9% below the last close | turned there three times · 2024-08-29 to 2026-01-21 |
| $179.70 | Support | 5.1% below the last close | turned there four times · 2024-11-13 to 2026-05-07 |
| $175.68 | Support | 7.3% below the last close | turned there 11 times · 2024-10-15 to 2026-07-01 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
No Elliott-wave labelling currently fits its swings: the recent highs and lows do not satisfy the three rules a five-wave count has to obey, so there is no count to show rather than a count we are unsure about.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-08-21.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading above the 200-day moving average · Recent golden cross (50-day crossed above 200-day) · Tested and reclaimed 200-day support · lagging the market · Printed a doji candle · Trading above the Ichimoku cloud | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · macd · breakout
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-08-21. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Mean price target$209.14 range $190.00 – $223.00; median $215.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-08-22. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for MSA
- Consensus EPS estimate$2.18 next reporting period, as of 2026-08-22
Change over time is not available yet: it needs two readings of the same reporting period at least 30 days apart, and we have been recording these estimates since 2026-08-04. An estimate for a DIFFERENT quarter is not a revision, so a reading from before the last report is never compared with one after it.
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["Changes in U.S. trade policy and increased tariffs","Dependence on global manufacturing and supply chains","Regulatory risks associated with safety standards in highly regulated industries"]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of MSA's 10-Q filed 2026-05-05 against the prior one filed 2025-10-29.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Added reference to 'advanced industrial safety technology products' replacing 'advanced safety products, technology and solutions' (2026-05-05)
- Added 'MSA Safety operates through its Accelerate strategy, leveraging the MSA Business System (MBS)' paragraph (2026-05-05)
- Added description of MSA+™ as 'Hardware-enabled Software-as-a-Service (HeSaaS) model' replacing previous description (2026-05-05)
- Added reference to Form 10-K 'for the year ended December 31, 2025' replacing 'December 31, 2024' (2026-05-05)
- Added reporting that segments are 'aggregated into two reportable segments' replacing 'three reportable segments' (2026-05-05)
- Added Mexico to list of MSA manufacturing plants in International segment (2026-05-05)
- Added new subsection comparing 'Three Months Ended March 31, 2026, Compared to Three Months Ended March 31, 2025' with Q1 2026 data (2026-05-05)
- Added disclosure regarding IEEPA tariff refunds application through CBP's CAPE functionality (2026-05-05)
- Added specific guidance: 'We expect to generate full-year mid-single digit organic sales growth in 2026' (2026-05-05)
- Removed:
- Removed section 'RESULTS OF OPERATIONS Three Months Ended September 30, 2025, Compared to Three Months Ended September 30, 2024' with Q3 2025 data (2026-05-05)
- Removed M&C acquisition discussion dated May 6, 2025 (2026-05-05)
- Removed reference to 'Note 15—Acquisitions' (2026-05-05)
- Removed discussion of fourth quarter 2025 impacts from AFG timing and U.S. government shutdown (2026-05-05)
- Removed statement about maintaining 'low single-digit full-year organic sales growth outlook' for 2025 (2026-05-05)
- Reworded:
- Changed product categories order from 'fire service, detection and industrial PPE' to 'detection, fire service, and industrial PPE' (2026-05-05)
- Changed description of MSA+™ from 'combines MSA hardware, software, and services to simplify safety operations' to 'Hardware-enabled Software-as-a-Service (HeSaaS) model that provides a turnkey approach' (2026-05-05)
- Changed Corporate segment description from 'primarily consists of' to 'not allocated to the reportable segments consist of' (2026-05-05)
- Changed line item description from 'Less: Acquisitions' to 'Acquisitions' in segment reconciliation table (2026-05-05)
- Notes:
- Text in newer filing appears truncated at end of IEEPA tariff section ('it is possible that our submission may not be accepted o')
- Text in older filing also appears truncated at end regarding monitoring macroeconomic factors
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
1 open-market purchase and 2 open-market sales by insiders in the last 90 days.
- Last 30 days0 buys · 2 sells ($4M) — 2 selling insiders
- Last 90 days1 buy ($71093) · 2 sells ($4M) — 1 buying, 2 selling insiders
- Last 180 days1 buy ($71093) · 2 sells ($4M) — 1 buying, 2 selling insiders
Activity heuristic: net selling (a transparent product heuristic from the counts above, not a prediction or advice)
Most recent open-market transaction: 2026-08-07. As of 2026-08-25.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsAsk about MSA's insider activity →
Only open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
5 institutional 13F filers reported holding MSA as of 2026-03-31 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 5
- Reported shares held 4,841,089
- Reported value $793,696,592
reported quarterly holdings change (2025-12-31 → 2026-03-31): 1 new, 3 increased, 1 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Short interest (FINRA)
MSA had 1,307,981 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
MSA had 3.39% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 4.66 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 1,307,981
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 3.39%
- Prior settlement (shares) 1,398,888
- Reported change -6.5%
- Days to cover (reported) 4.66
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-07-31 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- Honeywell International (HON)
- 3M (MMM)
- Drägerwerk AG
- Teledyne Technologies (TDY)
- Emerson Electric (EMR)
- Honeywell Fire (HON)
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
Compare MSA vs…
Frequently asked questions
What does MSA Safety (MSA) do?
MSA Safety provides advanced industrial safety technology products and solutions, including fixed and portable gas detection systems, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), and personal protective equipment (PPE). The company integrates these hardware products with cloud-based software and support services through its MSA+™ ecosystem. MSA operates globally across diverse markets such as fire service, energy, utilities, construction, and HVAC-R.
What sector is MSA Safety (MSA) in?
MSA Safety (MSA) is classified in the Industrials sector. Its industry is industrial safety equipment. It trades on NYSE.
Does MSA pay a dividend?
Yes — MSA Safety (MSA) pays a dividend, with an indicated yield of about 1.13% and at least 5 years of non-decreasing per-share dividends (SEC EDGAR XBRL) — we do not hold the year before it, so the real streak may be longer (market data, as of 2026-08-24). Informational only — not financial advice.
Who are MSA Safety's (MSA) competitors?
Notable peers of MSA Safety (MSA) include Honeywell International, 3M, Drägerwerk AG, Teledyne Technologies and Emerson Electric. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is MSA Safety (MSA) overbought or oversold right now?
MSA Safety (MSA) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 62, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-08-21). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on MSA come from?
Fundamentals and prices come from market data, as of 2026-08-24; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: market data, as of 2026-08-24. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-08-21.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.