First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $55,000 Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 81.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 148 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $55,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 97.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 486.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 690.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSA Safety

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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. B. Riley initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.00.

MSA Safety Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSA opened at $162.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.52. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $153.79 and a 1-year high of $200.60. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49 and a beta of 1.00.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.29%.

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.