GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 39,267 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 20,345.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,460 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,267 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.10% of MSA Safety worth $5,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSA. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 120.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 97.6% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 869 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety in the 1st quarter valued at about $165,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 35,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,710,889.32. The trade was a 45.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

MSA Safety Stock Performance

MSA Safety stock traded down $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $161.94. 204,582 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 186,223. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52 week low of $127.86 and a 52 week high of $200.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $154.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.55.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $421.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $402.60 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 28.64%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. MSA Safety's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.24%.

MSA Safety Company 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.