Brokerages Set MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Price Target at $82.20

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.20.

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSM. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $83.00 to $74.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th.

Insider Activity

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 27,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $69.77 per share, with a total value of $1,928,582.34. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,951,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $136,171,853.25. The trade was a 1.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 18.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 20,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 54,138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,044,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 38,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,884,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM opened at $77.72 on Wednesday. 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 $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 0.89. MSC Industrial Direct has a 12 month low of $68.10 and a 12 month high of $94.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.79.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $891.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $908.30 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

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.