Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA - Free Report) by 69.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,367 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 25,438 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in MSA Safety were worth $2,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSA Safety during the second quarter worth approximately $210,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in MSA Safety by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,855 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,419,000 after buying an additional 2,316 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. purchased a new stake in MSA Safety during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,149,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 770,641 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $144,642,000 after acquiring an additional 22,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSA Safety by 219.8% during the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 306,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,610,000 after acquiring an additional 210,968 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MSA shares. B. Riley started coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $205.00.

MSA Safety Stock Down 2.9 %

MSA stock traded down $4.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 129,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,572. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52-week low of $160.02 and a 52-week high of $200.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. The firm had revenue of $432.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $449.95 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. MSA Safety's revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. MSA Safety's payout ratio is 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.