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

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.7143.

A number of brokerages have commented on MSM. KeyCorp lifted their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Monday, April 27th.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,228,170 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,796,316 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,070,000 after acquiring an additional 187,440 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 306,436 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,764,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $162,605,000 after acquiring an additional 36,626 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 14,484 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:MSM opened at $115.38 on Thursday. 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 has a twelve month low of $78.80 and a twelve month high of $119.13. The company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $103.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.49.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $917.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 4.33 EPS 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 given 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 yield of 3.0%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.55%.

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.