Natixis Advisors LLC Invests $1.84 Million in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 11,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,844,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 120.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 81.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented 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 dropped their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.00.

Insider Activity

In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at $584,007. This represents a 16.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MSA opened at $151.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.54. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $148.23 and a twelve month high of $200.61. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 28.29%.

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.