Brokerages Set MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Price Target at $93.00

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.00.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Friday, June 14th. Baird R W downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 8th. KeyCorp cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, June 17th.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of MSM stock opened at $79.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.89. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52-week low of $75.05 and a 52-week high of $105.77.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $935.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $946.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.61%.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 15.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 139,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,651,000 after purchasing an additional 18,559 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 488,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,916,000 after buying an additional 51,866 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 34,087 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the third quarter worth approximately $490,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 156.7% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 53,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,220,000 after acquiring an additional 32,467 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

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.