MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Receives $85.20 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.20.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSM. Stephens lowered MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 8,289.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 16,828 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 36.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,195,000 after purchasing an additional 6,864 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 36.4% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 23,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 398.1% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 15,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 12,676 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 85.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,733,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $216,772,000 after buying an additional 1,256,706 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $74.69 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.89. MSC Industrial Direct has a twelve month low of $72.79 and a twelve month high of $104.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.81.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $959.74 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The business’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.24%.

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.