Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 45,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,497 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $8,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSA. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in MSA Safety in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,067,000. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in MSA Safety during the 2nd quarter valued at $60,236,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in MSA Safety by 1,601.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 312,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,443,000 after buying an additional 293,872 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 219.8% during the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 306,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,610,000 after purchasing an additional 210,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 293,205 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,502,000 after buying an additional 86,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $176.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.45. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52 week low of $147.35 and a 52 week high of $200.60.

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

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at MSA Safety

In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,039,117. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

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.