Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 738 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $1,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 200,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,293,000 after purchasing an additional 27,292 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 567.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter worth $26,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 3,700.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 12.2% in the third quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MSM stock opened at $78.63 on Friday. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.05 and a 12-month high of $104.76. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.05). MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 7.44%. The firm had revenue of $952.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is 64.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.20.

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.