MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 20.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,773,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 306,436 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 3.18% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $163,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. First Horizon Corp increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 101.0% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 71.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 130.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.43.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MSM opened at $127.18 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.76. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.80 and a 52 week high of $127.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.72 and a beta of 0.83.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.34% and a net margin of 5.91%.MSC Industrial Direct’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.06%.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.