Baillie Gifford & Co. Trims Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,230 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,909 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 0.30% of MSA Safety worth $20,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in MSA Safety by 231.0% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 63,941 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 44,625 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 80.9% in the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,173 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,323,000 after buying an additional 7,681 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of MSA Safety during the 1st quarter valued at $3,625,000. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 25,203 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,879,000 after acquiring an additional 4,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new position in MSA Safety in the second quarter worth $1,877,000. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSA shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. B. Riley initiated coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of MSA Safety to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSA Safety presently has an average rating of "Strong Buy" and an average price target of $207.50.

MSA Safety Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MSA traded up $1.32 on Wednesday, reaching $176.93. 215,224 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 153,475. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52 week low of $160.02 and a 52 week high of $200.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $173.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.57 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $432.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $449.95 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. MSA Safety's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. MSA Safety's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.48%.

MSA Safety Company 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.