Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $18.05 Million Stock Holdings in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its stake in MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,333 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 0.28% of MSA Safety worth $18,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSA. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSA Safety by 97.6% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of MSA Safety by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 109,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,091,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of MSA Safety by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 6,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in MSA Safety during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,034,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in MSA Safety by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 124,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,468,000 after acquiring an additional 26,470 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MSA. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson assumed coverage on MSA Safety in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on MSA Safety in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.50.

MSA Safety Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of MSA opened at $158.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.68. MSA Safety Incorporated has a 52 week low of $153.79 and a 52 week high of $200.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $165.48 and a 200-day moving average of $171.28.

MSA Safety (NYSE:MSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.02. MSA Safety had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 15.16%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSA Safety Incorporated will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSA Safety Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. MSA Safety’s payout ratio is 28.29%.

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.