Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 1,418 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 155,601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $11,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 77.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 531 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 29,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after purchasing an additional 6,973 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 72,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,430,000 after buying an additional 10,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 4,528 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSM shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Stephens downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $80.68 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.79 and a 12-month high of $104.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.91.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 81.15%.

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.