B. Riley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for MSA Safety Earnings

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at B. Riley lowered their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of MSA Safety in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, May 1st. B. Riley analyst J. Van. Sinderen now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $7.72 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $8.09. B. Riley has a "Buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for MSA Safety's current full-year earnings is $8.06 per share. B. Riley also issued estimates for MSA Safety's FY2026 earnings at $8.44 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $9.46 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $10.41 EPS.

MSA has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 target price on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Monday. DA Davidson dropped their price target on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MSA Safety from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $191.80.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSA traded down $0.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $157.10. 14,448 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 194,780. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.02. MSA Safety has a 52-week low of $127.86 and a 52-week high of $200.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79 and a beta of 0.96. 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 (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. The company had revenue of $421.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $402.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. MSA Safety's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 869 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. raised its stake in MSA Safety by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. now owns 23,136 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 269 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in MSA Safety by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at $584,007. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from MSA Safety's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. MSA Safety's payout ratio is currently 29.24%.

About MSA Safety

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.