MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $211.3333.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSA. Wall Street Zen downgraded MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. B. Riley Financial cut shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from $197.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $223.00 target price on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Stock Performance

Shares of MSA stock opened at $189.32 on Tuesday. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a 1-year low of $151.10 and a 1-year high of $208.92. 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 market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.98.

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $503.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.27 million. During the same period 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporporated will post 9.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. MSA Safety Incorporporated’s dividend payout ratio is 26.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $721,216. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 20,000 shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 50,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,762,352.76. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSA Safety Incorporporated

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,792,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $607,365,000 after buying an additional 82,305 shares during the last quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. increased its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 6.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in 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 valued at $143,971,000 after acquiring an additional 74,410 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 764,663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $122,460,000 after acquiring an additional 9,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC lifted its stake in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. M&G PLC now owns 728,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,596,000 after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MSA Safety Incorporporated

MSA Safety Incorporated develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of safety products designed to protect workers in hazardous environments. The company’s offerings span personal protective equipment such as industrial helmets, face shields, protective clothing and fall protection devices, as well as fixed and portable gas detection and monitoring systems. MSA’s products are used in industries including oil and gas, mining, construction, fire service, and chemical processing to guard against risks such as gas leaks, impacts, flame exposure and falls from height.

Key product lines include self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and air-purifying respirators, gas detectors and sensors, head and face protection, and fall arrest systems.