Tectonic Advisors LLC Increases Stake in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 100,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 8,623 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $9,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 70,865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,504,000 after purchasing an additional 5,644 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the first quarter valued at about $251,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the first quarter worth about $101,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,164 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 66.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,175,000 after purchasing an additional 31,671 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSM. Wall Street Zen downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.50.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE MSM opened at $84.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.80. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.10 and a 1-year high of $94.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64 and a beta of 0.85.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.06. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 5.29%.The firm had revenue of $978.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 95,779 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $84.92 per share, for a total transaction of $8,133,552.68. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,219,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,462,531.40. This represents a 4.51% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Philip Peller bought 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $90.14 per share, for a total transaction of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,665.18. This represents a 232.18% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired a total of 211,342 shares of company stock valued at $17,951,965 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 19.00% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Profile

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.