Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Acquires Shares of 8,298 MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $840,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 4.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,817,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $472,790,000 after acquiring an additional 197,193 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 829,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,024,000 after acquiring an additional 32,312 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,476,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 19.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 769,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $75,566,000 after acquiring an additional 125,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 59 North Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.5% in the third quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 719,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,659,000 after acquiring an additional 10,891 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSM shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $95.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSM stock traded down $8.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.84. 2,506,320 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 494,423. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.55 and a 52-week high of $105.77. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.46.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 22.58%. The company had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.61%.

MSC Industrial Direct Profile

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.