American Century Companies Inc. Has $7.85 Million Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 453.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,799 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 34,248 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of MSA Safety worth $7,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSA. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,734 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in MSA Safety by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in MSA Safety during the 4th quarter valued at $68,252,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in MSA Safety by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the 4th quarter worth $397,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares in the company, valued at $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

NYSE MSA opened at $182.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.00 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.45. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52-week low of $147.35 and a 52-week high of $200.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.48.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.04. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. The company had revenue of $462.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.30 million. On average, research analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 30.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.