AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Grows Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 70,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,724 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned approximately 0.18% of MSA Safety worth $12,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of MSA Safety by 198.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 486.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD acquired a new position in MSA Safety during the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. Kowal Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in MSA Safety during the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in MSA Safety in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MSA. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. William Blair upgraded MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSA Safety presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $207.50.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA Safety stock opened at $173.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.47. The stock has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $157.34 and a 12-month high of $200.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. The company had revenue of $432.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $449.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. MSA Safety’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.48%.

MSA Safety 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.