Cooke & Bieler LP Purchases 131,458 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 25.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 651,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 131,458 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $107,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at $1,131,000. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at $362,000. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 124,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,468,000 after buying an additional 26,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 67.6% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 23,385 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,147,000 after buying an additional 9,433 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of MSA Safety stock opened at $155.66 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.43. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1 year low of $153.79 and a 1 year high of $200.61. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. Research analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSA Safety presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $197.00.

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.