Vestcor Inc Trims Stake in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Vestcor Inc lowered its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 65.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,940 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,096,000. Willis Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 37,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,185,000 after acquiring an additional 12,383 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,581,000 after acquiring an additional 38,088 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,322,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $121,842,000 after acquiring an additional 15,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MSM. KeyCorp upped their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.71.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:MSM opened at $117.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.27. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a one year low of $78.80 and a one year high of $119.13. The company has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47 and a beta of 0.84.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $917.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.69 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 93.55%.

MSC Industrial Direct Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.