MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Earns Peer Perform Rating from Analysts at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a peer perform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.43.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $121.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.14. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52 week low of $78.80 and a 52 week high of $130.46.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.15. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.34% and a net margin of 5.91%.The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 12,181.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,254,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $273,718,000 after buying an additional 3,228,170 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,773,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $163,607,000 after acquiring an additional 306,436 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,357,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,240,000 after acquiring an additional 14,484 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,055,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,761,000 after acquiring an additional 22,602 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,380,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies. The company serves industrial and institutional customers by helping them source the products, services and expertise needed to operate and maintain manufacturing facilities, equipment and workplaces.

Its product offerings include cutting tools, abrasives, fasteners, hand and power tools, safety equipment, material-handling products, janitorial supplies, plumbing and electrical items, and other industrial consumables.