AIA Group Ltd Invests $1.96 Million in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 11,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,956,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in MSA Safety by 71.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSA Safety

In related news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.84, for a total transaction of $200,024.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,540,912.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other MSA Safety news, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.50, for a total value of $56,577.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,363. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.84, for a total transaction of $200,024.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,540,912.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,504 shares of company stock valued at $1,017,991 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.50.

MSA Safety Stock Performance

MSA opened at $187.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.08 and a beta of 1.01. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52-week low of $122.57 and a 52-week high of $196.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.38.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $495.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.52 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 3.28% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About MSA Safety

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.