MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Receives $197.00 Consensus PT from Analysts

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $197.00.

MSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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, February 18th. DA Davidson began 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock.

MSA Safety Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSA opened at $134.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety has a 1 year low of $133.95 and a 1 year high of $200.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.02.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSA Safety will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is presently 28.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,007. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in MSA Safety by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 120.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 97.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of MSA Safety by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.