LSV Asset Management Sells 10,164 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

LSV Asset Management decreased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,164 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $3,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter worth about $77,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 5,345.0% in the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSM. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $91.64 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.98 and a fifty-two week high of $105.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45 and a beta of 0.96.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.55 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is 59.61%.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's MRO products include cutting tools, measuring instruments, tooling components, metalworking products, fasteners, flat stock products, raw materials, abrasives, machinery hand and power tools, safety and janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, materials handling products, power transmission components, and electrical supplies.