MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Shares Sold by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSA. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $397,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. acquired a new position in MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 3,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 332.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 9,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $623,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at MSA Safety

In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

MSA Safety Stock Up 0.3 %

MSA Safety stock opened at $171.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $147.35 and a twelve month high of $200.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $462.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.30 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 14.97%. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.