B. Riley Begins Coverage on MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA)

B. Riley started coverage on shares of MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $200.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

MSA has been the topic of several other reports. William Blair upgraded shares of MSA Safety to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $207.50.

MSA Safety Stock Up 2.4 %

MSA Safety stock opened at $167.96 on Tuesday. MSA Safety has a fifty-two week low of $157.34 and a fifty-two week high of $200.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $173.60 and its 200-day moving average is $180.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $449.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSA Safety will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 presently 29.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSA Safety

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in MSA Safety by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,454 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,509,000 after acquiring an additional 21,902 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety in the third quarter worth $737,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of MSA Safety in the third quarter worth $248,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in MSA Safety by 32.2% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in MSA Safety by 985.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 803 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.