MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $211.33

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $211.33.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSA. Wall Street Zen lowered MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSA Safety Incorporporated from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. DA Davidson set a $223.00 price target on MSA Safety Incorporporated in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from $197.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Stock Performance

MSA Safety Incorporporated stock opened at $178.52 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 firm has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 0.92. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a 1-year low of $151.10 and a 1-year high of $208.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.77 and a 200-day moving average of $178.18.

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. Sell-side analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporporated will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety Incorporporated

In related news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.99, for a total value of $3,879,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 50,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,762,352.76. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total transaction of $89,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSA. Giverny Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in MSA Safety Incorporporated in the second quarter worth about $29,034,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 15,958.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 102,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,798,000 after purchasing an additional 101,818 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 2,490.2% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 89,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,628,000 after purchasing an additional 86,061 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 42.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 218,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,752,000 after purchasing an additional 65,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 161,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,395,000 after purchasing an additional 58,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

About MSA Safety Incorporporated

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE: MSA) develops and manufactures safety products and systems designed to protect workers and facility operations. Its offerings include industrial and firefighter helmets, eye and face protection, hearing protection, respiratory protection, protective clothing, and fall-protection equipment.

The company also provides portable and fixed gas-detection systems, flame detection and suppression technologies, thermal imaging cameras, and related software and services.