New York State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,316 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of MSA Safety worth $8,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in MSA Safety by 0.4% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 17,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,437,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 7.3% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 1,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted 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 worth $59,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

Shares of MSA Safety stock opened at $176.92 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.83. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12 month low of $147.35 and a 12 month high of $200.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.04. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. The company had revenue of $462.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.30 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is currently 30.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total value of $745,605.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSA. William Blair upgraded shares of MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

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.