Seven Eight Capital LP Invests $1.30 Million in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of MSA Safety by 198.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in MSA Safety by 50.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth about $142,000. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group LTD acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the first quarter worth about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MSA Safety

In related news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

MSA Safety stock opened at $184.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.36 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $147.35 and a 12-month high of $200.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.55.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $462.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.30 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. As a group, analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 30.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSA. William Blair upgraded shares of MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

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.