Alberta Investment Management Corp Grows Stock Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 213.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 619,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 422,100 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned about 1.11% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $52,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 34,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 50,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,240,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSM opened at $114.15 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.78. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.80 and a 12 month high of $119.13.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.02). MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 5.42%.The firm had revenue of $917.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.69 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 93.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.71.

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.