Natixis Advisors LLC Reduces Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 227 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $2,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in MSA Safety by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,191 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 35.3% in the first quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 122,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,792,000 after acquiring an additional 32,054 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in MSA Safety by 231.0% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 63,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 44,625 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 80.9% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 7,681 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of MSA Safety during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,625,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

NYSE:MSA opened at $170.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $183.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $147.35 and a 12-month high of $200.60. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $462.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.30 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 14.97%. Equities research analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. William Blair raised MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate 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.