Sei Investments Co. Has $12.99 Million Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 89.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 36,914 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $12,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSA. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in MSA Safety by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 120.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 97.6% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in MSA Safety by 81.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSA. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Two equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSA Safety currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.00.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA stock opened at $148.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.06. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $147.77 and a 12-month high of $200.61.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 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%. On average, analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is presently 28.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

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.