MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $1,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,191 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $23,792,000 after purchasing an additional 32,054 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 231.0% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 63,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 44,625 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 80.9% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 7,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the first quarter worth about $3,625,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MSA Safety

In related news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSA. William Blair raised shares of MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of MSA opened at $176.92 on Friday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a one year low of $147.35 and a one year high of $200.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $185.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.72. The stock has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $462.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.30 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is presently 30.22%.

About MSA Safety

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.