Franklin Resources Inc. Has $2.56 Million Stock Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 54.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17,858 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $2,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MSA Safety by 11.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,509,000 after acquiring an additional 4,497 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in MSA Safety during the second quarter worth about $795,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MSA Safety by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 738,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,695,000 after purchasing an additional 22,979 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in MSA Safety in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,322,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 2,362.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,119,000 after purchasing an additional 10,844 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSA shares. DA Davidson assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.50.

MSA Safety Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE MSA opened at $168.94 on Thursday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $160.02 and a fifty-two week high of $200.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $171.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. The business had revenue of $432.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $449.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. MSA Safety’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.48%.

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.