MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Declares $0.51 Quarterly Dividend

MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 1st, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of 0.51 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th.

MSA Safety has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 55 consecutive years. MSA Safety has a payout ratio of 24.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect MSA Safety to earn $8.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.3%.

MSA Safety Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MSA traded down $3.75 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $184.90. The company had a trading volume of 118,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,638. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $185.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.54. MSA Safety has a one year low of $147.35 and a one year high of $200.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.14. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. The company had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $428.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MSA Safety will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSA Safety

In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other MSA Safety news, Director J Vartanian & Pamel A. Nishan 6,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,039,117. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on MSA shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. William Blair upgraded MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $192.50.

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.