MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Raises Dividend to $0.51 Per Share

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.51 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This is an increase from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47.

MSA Safety has increased its dividend by an average of 3.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 54 consecutive years. MSA Safety has a payout ratio of 22.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect MSA Safety to earn $8.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.8%.

MSA Safety Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSA traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $183.93. The company had a trading volume of 134,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,327. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MSA Safety has a twelve month low of $126.75 and a twelve month high of $196.02.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $428.38 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 31.51% and a net margin of 14.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSA Safety will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSA Safety

In related news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 11,000 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.29, for a total transaction of $2,038,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,524,472. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.29, for a total value of $2,038,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,524,472. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.84, for a total transaction of $200,024.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,540,912.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,504 shares of company stock worth $3,056,181. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised MSA Safety from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSA Safety currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $189.50.

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.

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