Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Makes New $4.10 Million Investment in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,093 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,095,000. MSA Safety makes up approximately 2.6% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. owned about 0.06% of MSA Safety as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in 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 period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 231.0% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 63,941 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,294,000 after buying an additional 44,625 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of MSA Safety by 80.9% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,173 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 7,681 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in MSA Safety during the first quarter valued at $3,625,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in MSA Safety by 13,226.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 69,566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $13,467,000 after acquiring an additional 69,044 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 3,945 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.00, for a total transaction of $745,605.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 31,953 shares in the company, valued at $6,039,117. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MSA. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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 research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

MSA Safety Price Performance

MSA traded down $1.45 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $170.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 79,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,087. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 12 month low of $147.35 and a 12 month high of $200.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business's 50-day moving average price is $176.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.48. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31 and a beta of 0.99.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.04. MSA Safety had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 30.64%. The firm had revenue of $462.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $461.30 million. Sell-side analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. MSA Safety's payout ratio is presently 30.22%.

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.