MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on MSM. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, April 1st. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of MSM stock opened at $92.92 on Wednesday. MSC Industrial Direct has a 12 month low of $85.20 and a 12 month high of $105.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.20 and a 200-day moving average of $98.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $935.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $946.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.61%.

Insider Activity

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 137,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.66, for a total value of $13,449,344.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,708,311 shares in the company, valued at $166,833,652.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 137,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.66, for a total value of $13,449,344.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,708,311 shares in the company, valued at $166,833,652.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $1,442,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,417,038 shares in the company, valued at $136,248,203.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 254,503 shares of company stock worth $24,841,663. Company insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 168.8% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 154.8% during the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.