William Blair Has Negative Forecast for MSM Q2 Earnings

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) – Equities research analysts at William Blair dropped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for MSC Industrial Direct in a research report issued on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings per share of $0.68 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.71. The consensus estimate for MSC Industrial Direct’s current full-year earnings is $3.63 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for MSC Industrial Direct’s Q3 2025 earnings at $1.07 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.01 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $4.57 EPS.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MSM. Stephens downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $82.75 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.81. MSC Industrial Direct has a twelve month low of $72.79 and a twelve month high of $104.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.91.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. The trade was a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at $126,761,435.64. This trade represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 15.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,259,000 after purchasing an additional 35,289 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter worth about $204,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 25,675 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth about $248,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

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.