MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 35,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,006 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $5,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSA. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in MSA Safety by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MSA Safety by 120.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in MSA Safety by 97.6% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MSA Safety by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in MSA Safety by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MSA Safety currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $197.00.

Insider Activity at MSA Safety

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSA Safety Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $158.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.97. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $153.79 and a twelve month high of $200.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. On average, equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.29%.

MSA Safety 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.