MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $202.50.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, B. Riley started coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSA Safety

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 11.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,509,000 after purchasing an additional 4,497 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the 2nd quarter worth $795,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the 4th quarter worth $1,131,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 738,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $138,695,000 after acquiring an additional 22,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the second quarter valued at about $2,322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of MSA stock opened at $156.48 on Monday. MSA Safety has a 52-week low of $156.30 and a 52-week high of $200.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.98.

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

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is currently 29.48%.

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.