State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 1,201 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA – Get Rating) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.05% of MSA Safety worth $2,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC increased its position in MSA Safety by 49.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 1.3% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $879,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 0.3% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 32,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 68.0% in the second quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its position in MSA Safety by 3.1% during the second quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 80.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Bob Willem Leenen sold 4,000 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.93, for a total transaction of $563,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,079,946.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSA shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of MSA Safety from $136.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Monday, January 9th. TheStreet raised shares of MSA Safety from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, November 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of MSA Safety from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th.

MSA Safety Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $134.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.32 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12 month low of $108.75 and a 12 month high of $148.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $137.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.86.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 26th. The industrial products company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $381.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.60 million. MSA Safety had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 25.89%. As a group, analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 14th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 109.52%.

MSA Safety Company Profile

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