VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New $2.36 Million Investment in MSA Safety Incorporporated $MSA

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,357,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSA. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 17,760.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,436,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,298,340,000 after acquiring an additional 7,395,294 shares in the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. acquired a new position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated during the second quarter valued at about $158,997,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated during the 4th quarter worth about $66,878,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 1,447.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 363,177 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,159,000 after buying an additional 339,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 233.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 452,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,464,000 after buying an additional 316,975 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSA Safety Incorporporated from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson set a $223.00 price objective on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. B. Riley Financial lowered shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.33.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Stock Performance

Shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated stock opened at $181.35 on Friday. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a 52 week low of $151.10 and a 52 week high of $208.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $182.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.51. The company has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56 and a beta of 0.94.

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

MSA Safety Incorporporated Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety Incorporporated

In other MSA Safety Incorporporated news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 50,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,762,352.76. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total transaction of $89,579.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $721,216. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Company Profile

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.