Auto Owners Insurance Co Has $273.72 Million Stock Position in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 12,181.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,254,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,228,170 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co owned 0.06% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $273,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSM. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,796,316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,070,000 after purchasing an additional 187,440 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,764,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $162,605,000 after buying an additional 36,626 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,342,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,951,000 after buying an additional 20,503 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,258,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,864,000 after buying an additional 12,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,055,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,761,000 after buying an additional 22,602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSM shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $118.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.80 and a 1 year high of $119.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $106.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.83.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $917.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.69 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 5.42%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 93.55%.

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.