JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 51,097 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,826,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 51,097 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 4.65% of MSA Safety worth $323,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSA. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 2.4% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 97,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of MSA Safety by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 781,705 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,658,000 after buying an additional 169,168 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in MSA Safety during the 3rd quarter valued at about $198,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson started coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.50.

MSA Safety Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSA opened at $167.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16 and a beta of 0.99. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $160.02 and a twelve month high of $200.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $171.34 and a 200 day moving average of $177.54.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. The firm had revenue of $432.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $449.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is presently 29.48%.

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.