MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Receives $90.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.2857.

MSM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. iA Financial set a $95.00 target price on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, KeyCorp raised MSC Industrial Direct from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $117.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of MSM opened at $102.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.99. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52 week low of $74.30 and a 52 week high of $105.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.79.

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

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 8th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 1st quarter valued at $234,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 705,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,122,000 after buying an additional 212,074 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 44,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,093,000 after buying an additional 3,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 1st quarter valued at $1,227,000. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.