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

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.20.

MSM has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Friday, June 14th. KeyCorp lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, SVP Kimberly Shacklett sold 4,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.60, for a total value of $413,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,086.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSM. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 60,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,786,000 after purchasing an additional 5,850 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 2nd quarter valued at $361,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 606,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,118,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 2nd quarter valued at $360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE MSM opened at $81.88 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $81.52 and its 200-day moving average is $87.13. MSC Industrial Direct has a 12-month low of $75.05 and a 12-month high of $105.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.86.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.33. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 21.31%. The company had revenue of $979.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.47%.

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.