Yousif Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 507 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,668,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,316,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 462,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,420,000 after purchasing an additional 131,943 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 139,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,651,000 after purchasing an additional 18,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 488,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,916,000 after purchasing an additional 51,866 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSM shares. StockNews.com lowered MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $91.24 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.01. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a one year low of $88.77 and a one year high of $105.77.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 59.61%.

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.