Red Spruce Capital LLC Purchases 2,392 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Red Spruce Capital LLC grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares during the quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSM. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the third quarter worth $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 442.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 57.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 121.1% in the 3rd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stephens lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total value of $4,518,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 1.3 %

MSM opened at $82.83 on Wednesday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.79 and a 12 month high of $104.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $81.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The firm had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 81.15%.

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.