MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $133.95 and last traded at $132.1140, with a volume of 836,549 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $129.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, July 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.62.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $123.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be paid a $0.89 dividend. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a positive change from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSM. VELA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,789,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,392,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 53,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,959,000 after buying an additional 11,580 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 236,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,132,000 after buying an additional 27,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,039,000. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc is a distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies. The company serves industrial and institutional customers with products used in machining, manufacturing, facility maintenance and workplace safety.

Its offerings include cutting tools, abrasives, tooling and workholding equipment, machinery, safety products, material-handling supplies, janitorial and facility-maintenance products, and other industrial consumables. MSC also provides technical support, inventory-management programs, vending and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage procurement and production-related needs.

Founded in 1941, MSC serves customers primarily across the United States and Canada through sales representatives, customer service teams, catalogs, distribution operations and digital commerce platforms.