RiverFront Investment Group LLC Invests $498,000 in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,338 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in MSA Safety in the 4th quarter worth $397,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. acquired a new position in MSA Safety during the 4th quarter worth $403,000. Thematics Asset Management boosted its holdings in MSA Safety by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 150,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,324,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its holdings in MSA Safety by 133.3% during the fourth quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 3,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MSA Safety Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of MSA opened at $171.61 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $179.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75 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.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $462.46 million for 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $745,605.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.