MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $123.4286.

MSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. DA Davidson increased their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 30.4% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,108,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 89.9% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 24,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,926,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 9.5% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $123.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $120.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93 and a beta of 0.83. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52 week low of $78.80 and a 52 week high of $130.46.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.34% and a net margin of 5.91%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is presently 84.06%.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

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.