Champlain Investment Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 679,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 69,699 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned 1.73% of MSA Safety worth $120,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in MSA Safety by 16.9% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 80.9% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 7,681 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of MSA Safety by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 718,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $139,186,000 after purchasing an additional 77,960 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 8,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after buying an additional 2,780 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MSA Safety by 5.9% in the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 18,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,544,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. B. Riley began coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

NYSE MSA opened at $174.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $173.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.60. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $160.02 and a 1-year high of $200.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $432.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $449.95 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.16% and a return on equity of 29.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is currently 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.