Insider Selling: MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) Chairman Sells $3,879,800.00 in Stock

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) Chairman Nishan Vartanian sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.99, for a total transaction of $3,879,800.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 50,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,762,352.76. The trade was a 28.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:MSA opened at $189.87 on Friday. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a 12 month low of $151.10 and a 12 month high of $208.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $173.06 and its 200 day moving average is $175.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62 and a beta of 0.94.

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $503.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.27 million. MSA Safety Incorporporated had a return on equity of 25.13% and a net margin of 16.13%.MSA Safety Incorporporated’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporporated will post 9.23 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. MSA Safety Incorporporated’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.87%.

Institutional Trading of MSA Safety Incorporporated

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 3,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 109.3% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 3.8% in the second quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSA. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson set a $223.00 target price on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. B. Riley Financial downgraded shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from $197.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.33.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Company Profile

MSA Safety Incorporated develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of safety products designed to protect workers in hazardous environments. The company’s offerings span personal protective equipment such as industrial helmets, face shields, protective clothing and fall protection devices, as well as fixed and portable gas detection and monitoring systems. MSA’s products are used in industries including oil and gas, mining, construction, fire service, and chemical processing to guard against risks such as gas leaks, impacts, flame exposure and falls from height.

Key product lines include self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and air-purifying respirators, gas detectors and sensors, head and face protection, and fall arrest systems.