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

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six 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 target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.80.

MSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total value of $4,518,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. This 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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 938,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,467,000 after buying an additional 61,022 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $641,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 205,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,282,000 after acquiring an additional 75,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MSM opened at $82.39 on Friday. MSC Industrial Direct has a 1 year low of $72.79 and a 1 year high of $104.76. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $81.24 and a 200-day moving average of $82.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.93.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 81.15%.

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.