Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,069 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,113 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.10% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $5,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 5,345.0% during the third quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 0.5 %

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $91.62 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45 and a beta of 0.96. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.77 and a 12 month high of $105.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSM. KeyCorp reduced their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.00.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.