MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Stock Holdings Increased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 486.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $47,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in MSA Safety by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,151,000 after acquiring an additional 6,191 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in MSA Safety by 231.0% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 63,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,294,000 after acquiring an additional 44,625 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in MSA Safety by 80.9% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 7,681 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in MSA Safety during the 1st quarter valued at $3,625,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 13,226.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 69,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,467,000 after buying an additional 69,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $163.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.03. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52-week low of $157.11 and a 52-week high of $200.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $432.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $449.95 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 29.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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 note on Tuesday, July 16th.

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.