Edgestream Partners L.P. Purchases New Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 12,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $930,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter worth $4,871,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at about $920,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,693,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,469,000 after acquiring an additional 126,218 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 101,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,586,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter worth approximately $224,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 2.4 %

MSM opened at $78.72 on Wednesday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.79 and a 1-year high of $100.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.79 and a beta of 0.90.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.15%.

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.