Hilltop National Bank Boosts Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Hilltop National Bank raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $86,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSA. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 0.3% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 21,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,771,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 1.3% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 4.3% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,052 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 1.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSA. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $202.50.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA opened at $156.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.68. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1 year low of $156.30 and a 1 year high of $200.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.15.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $432.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $449.95 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.16% and a return on equity of 29.14%. MSA Safety’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.48%.

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.