Norwood Financial Corp Increases Stock Position in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

Norwood Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 13.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 325 shares during the quarter. Norwood Financial Corp’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSM. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSM shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $95.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 8th. KeyCorp lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of MSM stock traded up $1.29 on Friday, hitting $79.30. 950,316 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 516,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.01. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.05 and a one year high of $105.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.89.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 22.58%. The company had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.61%.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

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.