Weiss Ratings Reaffirms "Buy (B-)" Rating for MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Buy (B-)" rating for MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE: MSA), highlighting confidence in the company's stock performance.
• MSA's shares currently have an average target price of $189.20, with three analysts rating it as a "Buy" and three as "Hold."
• The company's recent quarterly earnings reported $1.93 EPS, exceeding estimates and indicating a 2.5% revenue increase year-over-year.

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MSA. DA Davidson raised their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $189.20.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Stock Performance

Shares of MSA stock traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $172.28. The company had a trading volume of 6,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 210,351. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 3.11. The firm has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $172.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.14. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a one year low of $127.86 and a one year high of $182.85.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, President Stephanie L. Sciullo sold 2,361 shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.51, for a total transaction of $400,213.11. Following the sale, the president owned 9,083 shares in the company, valued at $1,539,659.33. This trade represents a 20.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSA Safety Incorporporated

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSA. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 3,400.0% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 175 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 94.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 397.7% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 219 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 39.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 269 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

About MSA Safety Incorporporated

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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