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

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of 0.85 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th.

MSC Industrial Direct has increased its dividend by an average of 3.9% annually over the last three years. MSC Industrial Direct has a payout ratio of 83.7% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings fall. Equities analysts expect MSC Industrial Direct to earn $4.05 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 84.0%.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSM stock traded down $2.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.77. The company had a trading volume of 578,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 616,364. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $80.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct has a 12-month low of $72.79 and a 12-month high of $96.75.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The company had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSM shares. Stephens downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.80.

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.