Brokerages Set MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) PT at $191.80

Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research 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. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $191.80.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSA. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price target on MSA Safety in a report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson reduced their target price 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 reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of MSA Safety 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 35,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSA Safety

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,883,844 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $643,825,000 after buying an additional 22,190 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 1.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,027,471 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $297,410,000 after buying an additional 27,692 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 28.4% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,738,675 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $255,046,000 after buying an additional 384,365 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,131,515 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $187,573,000 after buying an additional 271,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 806,438 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $133,718,000 after buying an additional 24,733 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of MSA Safety stock traded down $2.89 on Thursday, reaching $161.94. 204,582 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 186,294. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. MSA Safety has a twelve month low of $127.86 and a twelve month high of $200.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $155.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.46.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $421.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $402.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that MSA Safety 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. MSA Safety's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.