MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) Coverage Initiated at B. Riley

Stock analysts at B. Riley started coverage on shares of MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock. B. Riley's target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.02% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MSA. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. William Blair raised MSA Safety to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.50.

MSA Safety Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of MSA stock traded up $4.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $168.04. 99,608 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 152,818. MSA Safety has a 1 year low of $157.34 and a 1 year high of $200.60. The firm has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50 day moving average is $173.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $432.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $449.95 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MSA Safety will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSA Safety

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of MSA Safety by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,191 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 231.0% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 63,941 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 44,625 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in MSA Safety by 80.9% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,173 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 7,681 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in MSA Safety during the first quarter valued at about $3,625,000. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its position in MSA Safety by 23.7% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 25,203 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,879,000 after buying an additional 4,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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.