Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Purchases 500 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 229,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $19,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 85.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,733,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $216,772,000 after buying an additional 1,256,706 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the first quarter worth $16,571,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 804.5% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 154,454 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 1,715.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 143,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,373,000 after purchasing an additional 135,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 458.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 119,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,493,000 after purchasing an additional 98,265 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSM has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE:MSM opened at $80.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.86. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.05 and a twelve month high of $104.76.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%. The company had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.24%.

MSC Industrial Direct 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.