MSC Industrial Direct’s (MSM) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $110.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock.

MSM has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $95.00 to $84.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Baird R W lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, June 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $93.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE:MSM opened at $78.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.89 and its 200-day moving average is $95.45. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52-week low of $75.05 and a 52-week high of $105.77. 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 company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.89.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 22.58%. The company had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 5.69 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSM. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 30.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 3.3% in the first quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 8.3% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 3.9% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.