Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Buys 2,250 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.30% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $14,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSM. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 52.2% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 79.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the second quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Zacks Research raised MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

Insider Transactions at MSC Industrial Direct

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 95,779 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $84.92 per share, for a total transaction of $8,133,552.68. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,219,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,462,531.40. This represents a 4.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Peller purchased 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $90.14 per share, for a total transaction of $600,873.24. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,537 shares in the company, valued at $859,665.18. This represents a 232.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 211,342 shares of company stock valued at $17,951,965. Corporate insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $88.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99 and a beta of 0.98. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a one year low of $68.10 and a one year high of $94.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $978.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.