Cetera Investment Advisers Trims Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 75.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,241 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,904 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in MSA Safety were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 120.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 97.6% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 869 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 1,519 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $4,839,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 35,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,710,889.32. The trade was a 45.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA stock traded up $3.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $165.37. 235,636 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 185,828. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $151.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.78. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12 month low of $127.86 and a 12 month high of $200.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94 and a beta of 0.96.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. The company had revenue of $421.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. MSA Safety's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. MSA Safety's payout ratio is 29.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price objective on MSA Safety in a research note on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised MSA Safety from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 10th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price target (down previously from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $191.80.

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.