Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 9,655 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 58,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,655 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $4,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 1,142.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter worth about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 442.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 35,300.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSM. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $88.99 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 cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.74.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.05). MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%. The firm had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $959.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.49%.

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.