Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Stake in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 2,694.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,958 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSM. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the first quarter worth $25,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 207.8% in the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the first quarter worth $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 79.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSM shares. Wolfe Research cut MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research cut MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $84.84 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.46. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.10 and a 52-week high of $94.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.06. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The business had revenue of $978.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a positive change from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.75%.

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.