Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 148.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,658 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,923 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,316,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of MSM stock opened at $93.22 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.76. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.61 and a 1-year high of $105.77.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.61%.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 24,501 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.31, for a total value of $2,433,194.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,683,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,219,171.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 18.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.