MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $200.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

Separately, B. Riley began coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $205.00.

MSA Safety Price Performance

Shares of MSA Safety stock opened at $174.41 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $172.29 and a 200 day moving average of $178.08. MSA Safety has a 12 month low of $160.02 and a 12 month high of $200.60. The firm has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. The company had revenue of $432.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $449.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that MSA Safety will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given 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 yield of 1.17%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSA Safety

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MSA. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 486.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 690.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 985.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 803 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the third quarter worth approximately $198,000. Finally, Kowal Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the second quarter worth approximately $204,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.