New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $7.32 Million Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 504 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of MSA Safety worth $7,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 5.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in MSA Safety by 486.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in MSA Safety by 51.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 97,571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,303,000 after acquiring an additional 33,204 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in MSA Safety by 1.3% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 3.8% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSA shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.00.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

MSA Safety stock opened at $158.52 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $164.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 1.00. MSA Safety Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $153.79 and a fifty-two week high of $200.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 28.62%. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.29%.

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.