MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.85 (NYSE:MSM)

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th.

MSC Industrial Direct has raised its dividend by an average of 3.6% annually over the last three years. MSC Industrial Direct has a payout ratio of 84.0% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect MSC Industrial Direct to earn $4.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 81.7%.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of MSM stock opened at $80.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 0.90. MSC Industrial Direct has a one year low of $72.79 and a one year high of $104.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.85.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%. The business had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MSC Industrial Direct

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total value of $4,518,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at $360,199.08. This trade represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSM has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's MRO products include cutting tools, measuring instruments, tooling components, metalworking products, fasteners, flat stock products, raw materials, abrasives, machinery hand and power tools, safety and janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, materials handling products, power transmission components, and electrical supplies.