MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at B. Riley

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) was upgraded by analysts at B. Riley to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $207.50.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

MSA opened at $167.96 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. MSA Safety has a 12-month low of $157.34 and a 12-month high of $200.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $173.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $432.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $449.95 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.16% and a return on equity of 29.14%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MSA Safety will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MSA Safety

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cooke & Bieler LP acquired a new stake in MSA Safety in the 2nd quarter worth about $60,236,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of MSA Safety by 1,601.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 312,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $60,443,000 after purchasing an additional 293,872 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in MSA Safety by 219.8% in the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 306,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,610,000 after purchasing an additional 210,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 718,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,186,000 after purchasing an additional 77,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 748.6% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,303,000 after purchasing an additional 57,827 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.