MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.50.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, October 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Philip Peller bought 6,666 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $90.14 per share, for a total transaction of $600,873.24. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,537 shares in the company, valued at $859,665.18. This represents a 232.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 22,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $84.96 per share, with a total value of $1,943,035.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,328,192 shares in the company, valued at $197,803,192.32. This trade represents a 0.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 211,342 shares of company stock valued at $17,951,965 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 19.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,950,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 250,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,289,000 after acquiring an additional 14,107 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,743,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,232,000 after acquiring an additional 92,800 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 116,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 1st quarter valued at $251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE MSM opened at $86.10 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.18 and a beta of 0.84. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52 week low of $68.10 and a 52 week high of $94.31.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.06. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 15.21%. The firm had revenue of $978.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is a positive change from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 97.75%.

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.