MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian Sells 30,000 Shares

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $4,839,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 35,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,710,889.32. The trade was a 45.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

MSA Safety Stock Down 1.3%

MSA Safety stock opened at $158.84 on Thursday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $127.86 and a twelve month high of $200.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $149.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.82. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 28.64%. The firm had revenue of $421.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $402.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a boost from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.24%.

Institutional Trading of MSA Safety

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Redmond Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSA Safety during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $362,000. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,345,000 after buying an additional 6,119 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 124,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,468,000 after buying an additional 26,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after buying an additional 6,384 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSA shares. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down previously from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 target price on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSA Safety has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.80.

MSA Safety Company Profile

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.