MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM Shares Purchased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 2,694.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,958 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 6.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,650,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $283,513,000 after purchasing an additional 231,961 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,781,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $138,369,000 after acquiring an additional 88,247 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,762,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,867,000 after buying an additional 327,833 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,240,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,343,000 after buying an additional 33,607 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,089,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $84,655,000 after buying an additional 126,765 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wolfe Research cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.50.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE:MSM opened at $84.84 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.46. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.10 and a twelve month high of $94.31. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83 and a beta of 0.95.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.06. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The firm had revenue of $978.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 97.75%.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.