California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,216 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,789 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.21% of MSA Safety worth $14,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 14.0% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 588 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 0.3% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 22,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 42.2% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 22.8% during the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Suncoast Equity Management raised its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 4.9% during the first quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 2,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.51% of the company’s stock.

MSA Safety Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:MSA opened at $167.74 on Tuesday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 1 year low of $122.57 and a 1 year high of $185.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 202.10 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $160.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.62.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.32. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 31.60% and a net margin of 1.94%. The business had revenue of $446.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $409.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 14th. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio is currently 226.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSA has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded MSA Safety from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on MSA Safety from $159.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.65, for a total value of $91,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,748,691.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

About MSA Safety

MSA Safety Incorporated develops, manufactures, and supplies safety products and software that protect people and facility infrastructures in the oil, gas, petrochemical, fire service, construction, industrial manufacturing applications, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, utilities, military, and mining industries in North America, Latin America, and internationally.