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

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.50.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wolfe Research cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 2.1%

MSM opened at $86.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.58. MSC Industrial Direct has a twelve month low of $68.10 and a twelve month high of $94.31.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.06. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This is an increase from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 97.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 95,779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $84.92 per share, for a total transaction of $8,133,552.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,219,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,462,531.40. The trade was a 4.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 181,806 shares of company stock worth $15,408,056 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSM. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 47.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct in the first quarter valued at about $897,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 6.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,078 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $705,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 36,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,649 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

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.