VELA Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 32,636 MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

VELA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 32,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,882,000. VELA Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of MSC Industrial Direct at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSM. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 12,181.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,254,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $273,718,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228,170 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.7% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 187,440 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 20.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,773,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $163,607,000 after acquiring an additional 306,436 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.1% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,764,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,605,000 after acquiring an additional 36,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,357,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,240,000 after acquiring an additional 14,484 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.43.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM stock opened at $121.38 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.80 and a 12-month high of $130.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $122.13 and a 200-day moving average of $108.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.32 and a beta of 0.83.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.15. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.34% and a net margin of 5.91%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 84.06%.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.