Xponance Inc. Cuts Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Xponance Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 19.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 932 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 30.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,151,000 after buying an additional 6,191 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 35.3% during the first quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 122,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,792,000 after purchasing an additional 32,054 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 231.0% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 63,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 44,625 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in MSA Safety by 80.9% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,323,000 after buying an additional 7,681 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in MSA Safety in the 1st quarter worth $3,625,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

MSA Safety Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $176.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $179.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.29. 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 Incorporated has a 52-week low of $147.35 and a 52-week high of $200.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released 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 firm had revenue of $462.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $461.30 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. On average, analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company 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 yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 30.22%.

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.