Rhumbline Advisers Boosts Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.28% of MSA Safety worth $18,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in MSA Safety by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 6,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of MSA Safety in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,034,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 124,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,468,000 after purchasing an additional 26,470 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in MSA Safety by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 1,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in MSA Safety by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 99,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,560,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

MSA Safety Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $158.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.79. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1 year low of $153.79 and a 1 year high of $200.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.96. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96 and a beta of 1.00.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.29%.

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.