Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 197,785 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 31,350 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.35% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $14,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 20,179 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,325 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 54,138 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,044,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 38,611 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,884,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 476 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company's stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.99. 260,469 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 661,604. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.10 and a 52-week high of $94.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.46. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 0.89.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $891.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.30 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. MSC Industrial Direct's payout ratio is 89.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSM. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wolfe Research raised MSC Industrial Direct to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson acquired 27,642 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $69.77 per share, for a total transaction of $1,928,582.34. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,951,725 shares in the company, valued at $136,171,853.25. The trade was a 1.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 18.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Company 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.