D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Purchases 34,228 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 77.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 78,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,228 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $12,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSA. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,354,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $224,504,000 after acquiring an additional 674,560 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth about $72,693,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,131,515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $187,573,000 after buying an additional 271,264 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in MSA Safety in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,689,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 554.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 284,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,170,000 after acquiring an additional 241,061 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,007. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSA has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price objective on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSA Safety currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.80.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of MSA opened at $161.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $149.16 and a 200-day moving average of $160.82. MSA Safety Incorporated has a one year low of $127.86 and a one year high of $200.61. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.09. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. The business had revenue of $421.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $402.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. MSA Safety’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is a boost from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 29.24%.

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.