MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM Holdings Raised by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 455.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,278 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $4,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the second quarter valued at about $39,950,000. SG Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 867.0% during the 3rd quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 360,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,261,000 after buying an additional 323,659 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 116.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 269,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,888,000 after buying an additional 144,666 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 2,876.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 129,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,977,000 after buying an additional 124,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 124.2% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 195,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,984,000 after acquiring an additional 108,116 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, January 8th. iA Financial set a $95.00 target price on MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.50.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of MSM opened at $91.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.82. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a one year low of $68.10 and a one year high of $96.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.38.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $965.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.52 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 14th were given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 14th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 95.08%.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

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.