MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM Position Boosted by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 970.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,758 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,138 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $3,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.1% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,764,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,605,000 after purchasing an additional 36,626 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,322,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $121,842,000 after purchasing an additional 15,765 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,246,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $114,867,000 after purchasing an additional 19,267 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.2% during the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,014,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,490,000 after purchasing an additional 11,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 511,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSM shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, February 6th. iA Financial set a $95.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $117.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.29.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $106.71 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.26. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.78 and a 52-week high of $108.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68 and a beta of 0.83.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 5.42%.The business had revenue of $917.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th were paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 8th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.55%.

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.