MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) Receives $189.20 Average PT from Brokerages

Key Points

• MSA Safety Incorporated has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from five brokerages, with three holding and two buying recommendations, and an average target price of $189.20.
• President Stephanie L. Sciullo sold 2,361 shares at an average price of $169.51, resulting in a 20.63% decrease in her holdings in the company.
• The company reported earnings of $1.93 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.76, alongside a revenue of $474.12 million.

Shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $189.20.

A number of research firms have commented on MSA. Wall Street Zen upgraded MSA Safety Incorporporated from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on MSA Safety Incorporporated in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $182.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from $183.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Stock Performance

MSA traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $170.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,205,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,542. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.44. The firm has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37 and a beta of 0.95. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a one year low of $127.86 and a one year high of $185.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.17. MSA Safety Incorporporated had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 15.15%.The firm had revenue of $474.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $446.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. MSA Safety Incorporporated's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety Incorporporated news, President Stephanie L. Sciullo sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.51, for a total value of $400,213.11. Following the sale, the president directly owned 9,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,539,659.33. This represents a 20.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MSA Safety Incorporporated

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSA. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 18.3% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,243,000. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in MSA Safety Incorporporated in the 2nd quarter worth $506,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in MSA Safety Incorporporated during the second quarter valued at about $195,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated during the second quarter valued at about $27,988,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

MSA Safety Incorporporated 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.