BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $7.95 Million Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 414.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,983 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,662 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in MSA Safety were worth $7,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 81.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in MSA Safety by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 869 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSA has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price target on MSA Safety in a report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com raised MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total value of $114,003.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MSA opened at $157.37 on Monday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52-week low of $127.86 and a 52-week high of $200.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $149.12 and its 200-day moving average is $160.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 0.96.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. The company had revenue of $421.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.24%.

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.