Brandes Investment Partners LP Acquires 46,728 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 319,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 46,728 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned about 0.57% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $26,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at $59,380,000. SG Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 867.0% in the third quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 360,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,261,000 after acquiring an additional 323,659 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 110.7% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 479,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,158,000 after acquiring an additional 251,759 shares during the last quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 303.6% in the third quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 204,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,886,000 after acquiring an additional 154,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 116.2% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 269,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,888,000 after acquiring an additional 144,666 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $117.07 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.27. The stock has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47 and a beta of 0.84. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.80 and a 12-month high of $119.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.71.

MSC Industrial Direct Company 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.