Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 25,130 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated $MSA

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 339,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,130 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.87% of MSA Safety Incorporporated worth $55,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in MSA Safety Incorporporated by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,792,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $607,365,000 after purchasing an additional 82,305 shares during the period. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. raised its position in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. now owns 1,811,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $290,115,000 after purchasing an additional 106,349 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 899,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,971,000 after buying an additional 74,410 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 764,663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,460,000 after buying an additional 9,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. M&G PLC now owns 728,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,596,000 after buying an additional 4,899 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from $235.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $197.00 target price on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of MSA Safety Incorporporated in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MSA Safety Incorporporated from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.60.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of MSA stock opened at $170.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 0.95. MSA Safety Incorporporated has a 1 year low of $151.10 and a 1 year high of $208.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

MSA Safety Incorporporated (NYSE:MSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The industrial products company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $463.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $451.28 million. MSA Safety Incorporporated had a net margin of 15.16% and a return on equity of 24.54%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSA Safety Incorporporated will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

MSA Safety Incorporporated Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from MSA Safety Incorporporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. MSA Safety Incorporporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.19%.

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety Incorporporated

In other news, CFO Julie A. Beck purchased 448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $158.69 per share, for a total transaction of $71,093.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 3,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $606,989.25. The trade was a 13.27% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About MSA Safety Incorporporated

MSA Safety Incorporated develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of safety products designed to protect workers in hazardous environments. The company’s offerings span personal protective equipment such as industrial helmets, face shields, protective clothing and fall protection devices, as well as fixed and portable gas detection and monitoring systems. MSA’s products are used in industries including oil and gas, mining, construction, fire service, and chemical processing to guard against risks such as gas leaks, impacts, flame exposure and falls from height.

Key product lines include self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and air-purifying respirators, gas detectors and sensors, head and face protection, and fall arrest systems.