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

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.4286.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wolfe Research cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $94.00 target price on MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, October 31st.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of MSM opened at $84.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.73. MSC Industrial Direct has a 12 month low of $68.10 and a 12 month high of $94.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $965.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.52 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 95.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Philip Peller bought 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $90.14 per share, for a total transaction of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $859,665.18. This trade represents a 232.18% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 22,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $84.96 per share, with a total value of $1,943,035.20. Following the completion of the purchase, 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. Over the last three months, insiders bought 211,342 shares of company stock valued at $17,951,965. Corporate insiders own 19.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSM. American Century Companies Inc. boosted 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 valued at $318,232,000 after buying an additional 92,800 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,764,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,605,000 after acquiring an additional 36,626 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,322,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,842,000 after acquiring an additional 15,765 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,246,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $114,867,000 after acquiring an additional 19,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.2% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,014,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,490,000 after purchasing an additional 11,912 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.