Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM)

Stephens reiterated 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 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MSM. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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 cut MSC Industrial Direct from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, June 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $101.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE MSM opened at $75.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct has a twelve month low of $75.55 and a twelve month high of $105.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.46.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $935.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.55 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct will post 5.69 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is 59.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,817,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $472,790,000 after acquiring an additional 197,193 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 829,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,024,000 after purchasing an additional 32,312 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,476,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 769,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,566,000 after buying an additional 125,944 shares during the period. Finally, 59 North Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 719,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,659,000 after buying an additional 10,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

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.