MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 189,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.48% of MSA Safety worth $33,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew 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 purchasing an additional 6,191 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 35.3% in the first quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 122,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,792,000 after buying an additional 32,054 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 231.0% in the first 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 holdings in MSA Safety by 80.9% in the first 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. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in MSA Safety during the 1st quarter valued at $3,625,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSA. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair upgraded MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSA traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $171.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 129,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,292. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.45. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $147.35 and a 1-year high of $200.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $177.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.91. The firm has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $462.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.30 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 14.97%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid 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 yield of 1.19%. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is currently 30.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,039,117. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.