Hsbc Holdings PLC Makes New Investment in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 17,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.4% during 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 buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 50,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,240,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson started coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $118.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.73. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.80 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.