United Services Automobile Association Makes New $367,000 Investment in MSA Safety Incorporporated $MSA

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association purchased 2,477 shares of MSA Safety Incorporated, valued at approximately $367,000, during the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus target price of $189.20 for MSA Safety, with two analysts rating the stock as a Buy and three as a Hold.
• MSA Safety recently reported earnings of $1.93 per share, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $474.12 million for the last quarter.

United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,477 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSA. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 3,400.0% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 175 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 39.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 269 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 54.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 24.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 682 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 11.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 970 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Trading Up 0.5%

MSA traded up $0.79 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $169.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 207,341. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a twelve month low of $127.86 and a twelve month high of $187.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $173.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.18 and a beta of 0.95.

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.17. MSA Safety Incorporporated had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 15.15%.The firm had revenue of $474.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. MSA Safety Incorporporated's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.24%.

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety Incorporporated

In related news, President Stephanie L. Sciullo sold 2,361 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.51, for a total transaction of $400,213.11. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 9,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,539,659.33. This represents a 20.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSA. Wall Street Zen upgraded MSA Safety Incorporporated from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on MSA Safety Incorporporated from $183.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on MSA Safety Incorporporated in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSA Safety Incorporporated currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $189.20.

MSA Safety Incorporporated 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.