GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 20,345.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,460 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,267 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.10% of MSA Safety worth $5,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MSA Safety in the 4th quarter worth about $362,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,356 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $70,345,000 after buying an additional 6,119 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 124,041 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,468,000 after acquiring an additional 26,470 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 62.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,688 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $4,839,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 35,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,710,889.32. This trade represents a 45.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MSA traded down $0.39 on Wednesday, hitting $166.04. 5,217 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 185,349. MSA Safety Incorporated has a one year low of $127.86 and a one year high of $200.61. The company has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.59. 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 (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 firm earned $1.61 EPS. MSA Safety's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. MSA Safety's dividend payout ratio is 29.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price target on MSA Safety in a report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down previously from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of MSA Safety from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.80.

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.