Rodgers Brothers Inc. Has $5.88 Million Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. increased its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,444 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Rodgers Brothers Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of MSA Safety worth $5,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the 4th quarter valued at $72,693,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,689,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,894,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in MSA Safety by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,999,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $331,503,000 after acquiring an additional 173,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 27.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 781,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,658,000 after acquiring an additional 169,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $148.07 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.00. The stock has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52-week low of $147.74 and a 52-week high of $200.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.79.

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

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 28.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at $584,007. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.20% 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.