MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.50.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSM opened at $87.07 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $86.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.38. MSC Industrial Direct has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $94.31. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is currently 97.75%.

Insider Transactions at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, Director Philip Peller purchased 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $90.14 per share, with a total value of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,665.18. The trade was a 232.18% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mitchell Jacobson acquired 95,779 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $84.92 per share, with a total value of $8,133,552.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,219,295 shares in the company, valued at $188,462,531.40. The trade was a 4.51% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 211,342 shares of company stock worth $17,951,965 over the last ninety days. 19.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSM. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 34,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.7% during the second quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 22,545 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 7.3% in the second quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 2,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 56,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,805,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.