Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 23,526 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,826,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,526 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.73% of MSA Safety worth $645,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,550,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA stock opened at $188.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.51. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52 week low of $147.35 and a 52 week high of $196.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $184.45 and its 200 day moving average is $179.11. The firm has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. This is a boost from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSA Safety

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

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.