WINTON GROUP Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated $MSA

WINTON GROUP Ltd lessened its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) by 89.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31,596 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated were worth $667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 7,395,294 shares in the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 1,811,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $290,115,000 after buying an additional 106,349 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 899,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,971,000 after buying an additional 74,410 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI raised its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 715,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $114,571,000 after buying an additional 81,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 656,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,204,000 after buying an additional 6,681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSA. B. Riley Financial lowered shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on MSA Safety Incorporporated from $197.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $223.00 target price on MSA Safety Incorporporated in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSA Safety Incorporporated has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.33.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Price Performance

MSA opened at $180.97 on Tuesday. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a 52-week low of $151.10 and a 52-week high of $208.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.31. The company has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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

MSA Safety Incorporporated Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.