Is it a Great Time to Buy MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) Shares?

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Select Strategy” third quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The ClearBridge Select Strategy underperformed its Russell 3000 Index benchmark in the third quarter. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had gains in four of the 10 sectors in which it was invested during the quarter (out of 11 sectors total). The IT and real estate sectors were the primary contributors to performance while the communication services and consumer discretionary sectors were the main detractors. You can take a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to have an idea about their best picks for 2021.

ClearBridge Select Strategy, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE: MSM) and discussed its stance on the firm. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. is a Melville, New York-based industrial supplies company with a $4.6 billion market capitalization. MSM delivered a -0.95% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by -0.95%. The stock closed at $83.26 per share on January 06, 2022.

Here is what ClearBridge Select Strategy has to say about MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc.  in its Q3 2021 investor letter:

“Aware of these inflation risks, since the spring we have begun navigating to companies that can take price and maintain flexibility in their business. Enterprise software companies, for example, avoid many of the inflationary issues facing companies with a physical product or service. We also strive to own companies with strong physical pricing power such as MSC Industrial Direct, which has been able to push price increases through its distribution channels.”

Based on our calculations, MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE: MSM) was not able to clinch a spot in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. MSM was in 25 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2021, compared to 18 funds in the previous quarter. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE: MSM) delivered a -1.20% return in the past 3 months.

In November 2021, we also shared ClearBridge Investment‘s views on MSM in another article. You can find more than 100 investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q3 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.