SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 4,496 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 56.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,496 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $2,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MSA Safety by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,802,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $599,481,000 after buying an additional 14,236 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the third quarter worth approximately $461,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the third quarter valued at approximately $389,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in MSA Safety by 31.8% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 281,558 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,388,000 after purchasing an additional 67,902 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in MSA Safety in the third quarter worth approximately $1,138,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.50.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $193.18 on Thursday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $122.57 and a 12-month high of $194.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $178.06 and a 200 day moving average of $168.68.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $495.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.52 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 3.28% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 129.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.50, for a total transaction of $56,577.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,363. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.50, for a total transaction of $56,577.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,363. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 4,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.75, for a total transaction of $761,389.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,593,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,504 shares of company stock worth $1,017,991 over the last quarter. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.