LSV Asset Management Decreases Stock Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

LSV Asset Management decreased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,164 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.06% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $3,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter worth about $1,668,000. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 42,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,263,000 after buying an additional 12,088 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,316,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 39.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 462,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,420,000 after buying an additional 131,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 15.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 18,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of 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. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $91.64 on Thursday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.98 and a 1-year high of $105.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.21.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $935.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 22.58%. MSC Industrial Direct’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.