Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $13.98 Million Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,700 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.19% of MSA Safety worth $13,983,000 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 position 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 worth $1,093,000 after buying an additional 2,734 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the fourth quarter worth $68,252,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in MSA Safety by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in MSA Safety during the 4th quarter worth $397,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,039,117. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

MSA stock opened at $181.01 on Monday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $147.35 and a 1-year high of $200.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.51. The firm has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 earnings per share (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 research analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair upgraded shares of MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a report 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.