MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Receives $83.80 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.80.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens lowered MSC Industrial Direct from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock traded up $0.47 on Friday, hitting $77.97. 443,124 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 589,573. MSC Industrial Direct has a one year low of $72.79 and a one year high of $100.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.52. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 0.90.

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MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct's payout ratio is 81.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSM. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in MSC Industrial Direct by 127.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,206,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,137,000 after purchasing an additional 676,238 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,576,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,735,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,987,455 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $148,443,000 after acquiring an additional 448,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 138.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 366,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,396,000 after buying an additional 212,730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.