California State Teachers Retirement System Has $729.39 Million Stock Position in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. $MSM

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its MSC Industrial Direct position by 11,308.6% in the second quarter, acquiring 6.08 million shares. Its 6.13 million shares are valued at approximately $729.4 million, representing a 10.98% stake.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: three analysts rate the stock a Buy and five rate it Hold, producing a consensus Hold rating and a $123.43 price target. Recent firms raised price targets to as high as $150, while Weiss Ratings and Zacks Research downgraded the shares.
• MSC Industrial Direct exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.43 in earnings per share on $1.05 billion in revenue, with revenue up 7.8% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, equivalent to a 2.9% annual yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Free Report) by 11,308.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,131,873 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,078,125 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 10.98% of MSC Industrial Direct worth $729,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 89.9% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 101.0% during the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 400 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 514 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 71.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 503 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.43.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSM opened at $120.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $122.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.39. MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. has a one year low of $78.80 and a one year high of $130.46.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.91% and a return on equity of 17.34%. MSC Industrial Direct's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MSC Industrial Direct's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.06%.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc NYSE: MSM is a distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies. The company serves industrial and institutional customers by helping them source the products, services and expertise needed to operate and maintain manufacturing facilities, equipment and workplaces.

Its product offerings include cutting tools, abrasives, fasteners, hand and power tools, safety equipment, material-handling products, janitorial supplies, plumbing and electrical items, and other industrial consumables.

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