Fox Run Management L.L.C. Buys 494 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 43.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,691,319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,939,000 after acquiring an additional 40,569 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 27.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 781,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $138,658,000 after purchasing an additional 169,168 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 767,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,251,000 after purchasing an additional 17,052 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 651,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,977,000 after purchasing an additional 131,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 590,718 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,923,000 after buying an additional 150,402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on MSA Safety from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSA Safety has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $197.00.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA stock opened at $151.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.22. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12-month low of $148.23 and a 12-month high of $200.61.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. On average, analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.29%.

Insider Activity at MSA Safety

In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of MSA Safety 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 directly owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,007. The trade was a 16.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.