First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Invests $205,000 in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 98.3% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 4,620 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 1st quarter worth approximately $245,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 3,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,622 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSM has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of MSM opened at $82.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 0.87. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.05 and a fifty-two week high of $104.76.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.74 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. 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 74.24%.

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.