MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $133.22 According to Analysts

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $133.22.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, July 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson set a $155.00 price objective on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $152.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Stephens raised MSC Industrial Direct from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, October 23rd.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $113.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46 and a beta of 0.83. MSC Industrial Direct has a twelve month low of $78.80 and a twelve month high of $133.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $122.75 and a 200 day moving average of $110.00.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.04. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 5.55%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a boost from MSC Industrial Direct’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 89.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson acquired 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $115.94 per share, with a total value of $28,985,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,578,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,915,580.48. This trade represents a 10.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Reuben E. Slone acquired 433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $115.77 per share, with a total value of $50,128.41. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,128.41. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 19.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,463,620 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,098,000 after buying an additional 52,860 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,773,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $163,607,000 after purchasing an additional 306,436 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,357,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,240,000 after purchasing an additional 14,484 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 100.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor LLC now owns 484,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,986,000 after purchasing an additional 243,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,939,000. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc is a distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies. The company serves industrial and institutional customers with products used in machining, manufacturing, facility maintenance and workplace safety.

Its offerings include cutting tools, abrasives, tooling and workholding equipment, machinery, safety products, material-handling supplies, janitorial and facility-maintenance products, and other industrial consumables. MSC also provides technical support, inventory-management programs, vending and other supply-chain services designed to help customers manage procurement and production-related needs.

Founded in 1941, MSC serves customers primarily across the United States and Canada through sales representatives, customer service teams, catalogs, distribution operations and digital commerce platforms.