There's an old saying on Wall Street about insider buying: there are many possible reasons to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy. Back on December 10, MSA Safety Inc's Director, Robert A. Bruggeworth, invested $4,575.30 into 83 shares of MSA, for a cost per share of $55.00. Bargain hunters tend to pay particular attention to insider buys like this one, because presumably the only reason an insider would take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock of their company in the open market, is that they expect to make money.
In trading on Thursday, bargain hunters could buy shares of MSA Safety Inc (NYSE: MSA) and achieve a cost basis 11.6% cheaper than Bruggeworth, with shares changing hands as low as $48.60 per share. It should be noted that Bruggeworth has collected $0.31/share in dividends since the time of their purchase, so they are currently down 11.1% on their purchase from a total return basis. MSA Safety Inc shares are currently trading up about 0.8% on the day. The chart below shows the one year performance of MSA shares, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, MSA's low point in its 52 week range is $43.12 per share, with $61.08 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $49.01. By comparison, below is a table showing the prices at which insider buying was recorded over the last six months:
| Purchased | Insider | Title | Shares | Price/Share | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/10/2014 | Robert A. Bruggeworth | Director | 83 | $55.00 | $4,575.30 |
MSA makes up 2.84% of the ProShares S&P MidCap 400 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (AMEX: REGL)
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