Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MSA Safety in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in MSA Safety by 71.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSA Safety

In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 4,099 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.75, for a total transaction of $761,389.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,593,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other MSA Safety news, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 4,099 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.75, for a total transaction of $761,389.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,593,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 1,100 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.84, for a total value of $200,024.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,474 shares in the company, valued at $1,540,912.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,504 shares of company stock valued at $1,017,991. 6.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MSA Safety Stock Down 0.1 %

MSA stock opened at $185.72 on Friday. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $122.57 and a twelve month high of $196.02. The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of 128.08 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $495.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.52 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 3.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.50.

MSA Safety 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.