Caxton Associates LP Buys 2,780 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Caxton Associates LP boosted its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 52.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,780 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSA. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in MSA Safety in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 50.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSA Safety Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MSA traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $187.18. 12,787 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 152,145. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $185.49 and its 200-day moving average is $183.25. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $147.35 and a 12-month high of $200.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.14. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 14.97%. The company had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. MSA Safety’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This is a positive change from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSA. William Blair upgraded MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSA Safety has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.29, for a total value of $2,038,190.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 56,800 shares in the company, valued at $10,524,472. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

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.