Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 17,052 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 767,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,052 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.95% of MSA Safety worth $127,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSA. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 5.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 486.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 8.2% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 5.7% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in MSA Safety by 4.3% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,052 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Price Performance

Shares of MSA Safety stock opened at $163.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.46. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52 week low of $153.79 and a 52 week high of $200.60. The company has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. As a group, analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. B. Riley initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $197.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,007. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.