Amalgamated Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 7.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,407 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $3,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in MSA Safety by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 198.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 50.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in MSA Safety in the fourth quarter worth $142,000. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group LTD bought a new stake in MSA Safety in the first quarter valued at $203,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was 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 approximately $6,039,117. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

MSA Safety Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE MSA opened at $181.01 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.82 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.19 and its 200 day moving average is $184.51. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $147.35 and a twelve month high of $200.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $462.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $461.30 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. Research analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is 30.22%.

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.