MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.7143.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, April 27th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Down 1.2%

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $115.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02 and a beta of 0.84. MSC Industrial Direct has a 12 month low of $78.80 and a 12 month high of $119.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $917.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.69 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 5.42%.MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 8th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 34,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.