Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 748.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 57,827 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.17% of MSA Safety worth $12,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in MSA Safety by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 198.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in MSA Safety by 50.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth $142,000. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group LTD purchased a new stake in MSA Safety in the first quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $176.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $147.35 and a twelve month high of $200.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.61.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $462.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.30 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 14.97%. On average, equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair raised MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target 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.

MSA Safety Company 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.