MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $211.3333.

MSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $223.00 price objective on MSA Safety Incorporporated in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. B. Riley Financial downgraded MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $210.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on MSA Safety Incorporporated from $197.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Activity

In other MSA Safety Incorporporated news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 469 shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total transaction of $89,579.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $721,216. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.99, for a total value of $3,879,800.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 50,324 shares in the company, valued at $9,762,352.76. This trade represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSA Safety Incorporporated

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 17,760.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,436,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,298,340,000 after purchasing an additional 7,395,294 shares in the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 1,811,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $290,115,000 after buying an additional 106,349 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 899,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,971,000 after buying an additional 74,410 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 764,663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,460,000 after buying an additional 9,915 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. M&G PLC now owns 728,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,596,000 after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSA opened at $182.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $182.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.55. The company has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.94. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a 12 month low of $151.10 and a 12 month high of $208.92.

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $503.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $496.27 million. MSA Safety Incorporporated had a return on equity of 25.13% and a net margin of 16.13%.MSA Safety Incorporporated’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporporated will post 9.2 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. MSA Safety Incorporporated’s payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

About MSA Safety Incorporporated

MSA Safety Incorporated develops and manufactures safety equipment and systems designed to protect people in hazardous work environments. Its products include industrial and fixed-gas detection instruments, respiratory protection equipment, hard hats and other head protection, eye and face protection, hearing protection, fall-protection systems, and connected safety technologies.

The company serves customers in industries such as construction, manufacturing, utilities, oil and gas, mining, and emergency response.