Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Decreases Stock Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,580 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $1,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 198.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 486.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 985.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 803 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in MSA Safety in the second quarter worth $204,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in MSA Safety in the second quarter worth $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of MSA stock opened at $171.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.56. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $160.02 and a 1-year high of $200.60. The company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.71.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $432.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $449.95 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 29.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. B. Riley assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

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.