Stifel Nicolaus Raises MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) Price Target to $215.00

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) had its price target hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $200.00 to $215.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Separately, William Blair upgraded MSA Safety to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $192.50.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA opened at $188.55 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.49 and a 200-day moving average of $183.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety has a 12-month low of $147.35 and a 12-month high of $200.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its 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 company had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.38 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 14.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is a positive change from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 56,800 shares in the company, valued at $10,524,472. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSA Safety

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,960,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 30.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,151,000 after buying an additional 6,191 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 227,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,382,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 35.3% during the first quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 122,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,792,000 after buying an additional 32,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,944,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.