MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Updates Q3 Earnings Guidance

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) updated its third quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.32-1.34 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.57. The company issued revenue guidance of $978-980 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.02 billion.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 10.4 %

NYSE:MSM opened at $75.84 on Friday. MSC Industrial Direct has a one year low of $75.55 and a one year high of $105.77. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.89 and a 200-day moving average of $95.47.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.02. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is 59.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSM. Robert W. Baird dropped 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 research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, June 8th. Baird R W lowered MSC Industrial Direct from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $101.80.

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.