Teton Advisors Inc. Sells 800 Shares of MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Teton Advisors Inc. decreased its position in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Teton Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MSA Safety were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in MSA Safety by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in MSA Safety by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MSA Safety

In other news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.84, for a total transaction of $200,024.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,540,912.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 1,100 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.84, for a total value of $200,024.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,540,912.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nishan J. Vartanian sold 4,099 shares of MSA Safety stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.75, for a total value of $761,389.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,593,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,504 shares of company stock valued at $1,017,991 over the last 90 days. 6.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded MSA Safety from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a 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 MarketBeat, MSA Safety has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.50.

MSA Safety Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MSA traded up $2.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $185.32. 166,030 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 141,404. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.45. MSA Safety Incorporated has a twelve month low of $126.75 and a twelve month high of $196.02.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $428.38 million. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 31.48% and a net margin of 14.81%. MSA Safety’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.