MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at B. Riley

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at B. Riley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on MSA. William Blair raised shares of MSA Safety to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of MSA Safety from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and an average price target of $207.50.

MSA Safety Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of MSA stock traded up $5.84 on Monday, hitting $173.66. The stock had a trading volume of 191,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,428. MSA Safety has a twelve month low of $157.34 and a twelve month high of $200.60. The firm has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10 and a beta of 0.99. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $173.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.62.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. MSA Safety had a net margin of 15.16% and a return on equity of 29.14%. The company had revenue of $432.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $449.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that MSA Safety will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSA Safety

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSA. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in MSA Safety by 198.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 486.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 985.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 803 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Allegheny Financial Group LTD bought a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Kowal Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.