Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $3.28 Million Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 289 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $3,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 7.3% in the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 1,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 50.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in MSA Safety by 1.9% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in MSA Safety by 1.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA Safety stock opened at $181.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.52. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12 month low of $147.35 and a 12 month high of $200.60. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 0.99. 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 (NYSE:MSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $462.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.30 million. Analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair raised shares of MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

MSA Safety Company 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.