MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Stake Increased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 155,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $25,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSA. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 97.6% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 486.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 690.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have 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 data from MarketBeat.com, MSA Safety currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $197.00.

MSA Safety Price Performance

NYSE MSA opened at $158.30 on Friday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $153.79 and a fifty-two week high of $200.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $164.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96 and a beta of 1.00.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its 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 return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. On average, analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.29%.

MSA Safety Company 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.