Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,430 MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSA. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,354,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $224,504,000 after acquiring an additional 674,560 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $72,693,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,131,515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $187,573,000 after acquiring an additional 271,264 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,689,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 554.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 284,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,170,000 after acquiring an additional 241,061 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MSA. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 target price on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Monday, May 5th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.80.

MSA Safety Price Performance

NYSE:MSA opened at $159.46 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.64. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1-year low of $127.86 and a 1-year high of $200.61.

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

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is presently 29.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,007. The trade was a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $4,839,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 35,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,710,889.32. The trade was a 45.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.