MSA Safety price target raised to $170, added to ‘Select List’ at Stifel

Stifel analyst Stanley Elliott raised the firm’s price target on MSA Safety (MSA) to $170 from $157 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares, which he added to the firm’s "Select List" in place of Timken (TKR). In his 2023 outlook note for his Machinery, Construction Materials and Building Products coverage, the analyst stated that he expects "typical late-cycle trends" – including slowness in housing but non-residential accelerating – to unfold and also expects the price/cost environment to generally improve. Like many of companies under his coverage, MSA enters 2023 with a strong backlog, but "what is different" is MSA’s exposure to the fire service market, where ongoing share gains "provide a unique and somewhat countercyclical demand driver," Elliott tells investors.