Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New $566,000 Investment in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,412 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank grew its position in MSA Safety by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 57,701 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,565,000 after purchasing an additional 11,807 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in MSA Safety by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,918 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,601,000 after buying an additional 13,682 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in MSA Safety 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 buying an additional 117,758 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 3,801 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in MSA Safety by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 18,766 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSA shares. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price target on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Monday. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down previously from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of MSA Safety from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $191.80.

MSA Safety Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE MSA traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $157.63. 39,597 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 178,303. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.02. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12 month low of $127.86 and a 12 month high of $200.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86 and a beta of 0.96.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business 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%. MSA Safety's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSA Safety's payout ratio is presently 29.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,007. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.