Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 23,705 MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 23,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,930,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSA. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in MSA Safety by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 120.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in MSA Safety by 97.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank lifted its position in MSA Safety by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at $584,007. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSA Safety stock opened at $151.90 on Tuesday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $148.59 and a 1-year high of $200.61. The company has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $160.99 and a 200-day moving average of $168.47.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.00.

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.