MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.80.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stephens downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MSM stock opened at $82.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct has a fifty-two week low of $72.79 and a fifty-two week high of $104.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.91.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The business had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total value of $4,518,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 938,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,467,000 after acquiring an additional 61,022 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 2nd quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 205,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,282,000 after buying an additional 75,160 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.