Brandes Investment Partners LP Boosts Stock Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,698 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,504 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned 0.09% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $3,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 8,289.7% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 16,828 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 36.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,195,000 after acquiring an additional 6,864 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 36.4% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 23,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 398.1% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 15,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 12,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 26,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 3.6 %

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $77.16 on Friday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.79 and a 52 week high of $100.35. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $80.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The company had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 81.15%.

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.