Insider Selling: MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) CAO Sells $114,003.00 in Stock

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

NYSE:MSA opened at $161.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.58. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $153.79 and a twelve month high of $200.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 28.64%. As a group, research analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.29%.

Institutional Trading of MSA Safety

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 21,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,771,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,799,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,190 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, B. Riley initiated 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.00.

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.