MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Stock Position Cut by American International Group Inc.

American International Group Inc. lessened its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 2.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $9,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,960,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 30.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,151,000 after buying an additional 6,191 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 227,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,382,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 35.3% during the first quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 122,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,792,000 after buying an additional 32,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,944,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, William Blair raised shares of MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSA Safety currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $189.50.

MSA Safety Trading Down 0.2 %

MSA stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $191.56. 121,366 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 151,942. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52-week low of $147.35 and a 52-week high of $200.60. The company has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.49 and its 200-day moving average is $182.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.38 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.81% and a return on equity of 31.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. This is a positive change from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is 30.22%.

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety

In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.29, for a total value of $2,038,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,524,472. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.