MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.80.

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 0.7 %

MSM opened at $81.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.79. MSC Industrial Direct has a fifty-two week low of $72.79 and a fifty-two week high of $104.76.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSM. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 127.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,206,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,137,000 after buying an additional 676,238 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,576,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,735,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,987,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,443,000 after purchasing an additional 448,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 138.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 366,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,396,000 after purchasing an additional 212,730 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.