JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Price Target to $80.00

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) had its target price trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $81.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on MSM. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, June 8th. Loop Capital cut MSC Industrial Direct from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $95.00 to $84.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered MSC Industrial Direct from an overweight rating to a sector weight rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSM opened at $78.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $86.36 and its 200-day moving average is $93.68. The stock has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.88. MSC Industrial Direct has a twelve month low of $75.05 and a twelve month high of $105.77.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33. The company had revenue of $979.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.10 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.61%.

Institutional Trading of MSC Industrial Direct

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 42,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,263,000 after acquiring an additional 12,088 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at $1,668,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the fourth quarter valued at $1,316,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,476,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the fourth quarter valued at $56,088,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

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.