Ameriprise Financial Inc. Reduces Stake in MSA Safety Incorporporated $MSA

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated by 10.6%, selling 47,455 shares to hold a total of 400,627 shares worth approximately $58.77 million.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for MSA Safety, with a consensus target of $189.20, reflecting a mix of ratings including two "buy" and three "hold" ratings.
• MSA Safety recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53, providing a 1.2% yield to shareholders, with a payout ratio of 30.24%.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 400,627 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 47,455 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.02% of MSA Safety Incorporporated worth $58,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 29,252 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,849,000 after acquiring an additional 10,033 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 96.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 20,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,406,000 after acquiring an additional 10,101 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 18,766 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 438,374 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,669,000 after acquiring an additional 117,758 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on MSA Safety Incorporporated in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $182.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price target on MSA Safety Incorporporated in a report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on MSA Safety Incorporporated from $183.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MSA Safety Incorporporated from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $189.20.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Price Performance

Shares of MSA stock traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $169.10. The stock had a trading volume of 191,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 215,695. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 0.95. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a one year low of $127.86 and a one year high of $187.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $173.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.57.

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

MSA Safety Incorporporated Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. MSA Safety Incorporporated's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.24%.

About MSA Safety Incorporporated

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.