Deutsche Bank AG Grows Stock Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.06% of MSA Safety worth $3,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter valued at $362,000. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in MSA Safety by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in MSA Safety by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,345,000 after purchasing an additional 6,119 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in MSA Safety by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 124,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,468,000 after purchasing an additional 26,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 62.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,959,000 after buying an additional 6,384 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSA Safety news, Chairman Nishan J. Vartanian sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total value of $4,839,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 35,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,710,889.32. This represents a 45.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Jonathan D. Buck sold 717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.00, for a total transaction of $114,003.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,007. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSA. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down previously from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $166.00 price objective on MSA Safety in a research report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on MSA Safety from $188.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.80.

MSA Safety Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:MSA opened at $159.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07 and a beta of 0.96. MSA Safety Incorporated has a one year low of $127.86 and a one year high of $200.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $149.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.58.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $421.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.60 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 28.64% and a net margin of 15.76%. MSA Safety’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from MSA Safety’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. MSA Safety’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.24%.

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.