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

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%.

MSC Industrial Direct has raised its dividend by an average of 2.2% annually over the last three years. MSC Industrial Direct has a payout ratio of 94.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Analysts expect MSC Industrial Direct to earn $4.16 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 81.7%.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM stock traded down $3.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.31. 632,224 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 575,666. MSC Industrial Direct has a twelve month low of $75.05 and a twelve month high of $104.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.41.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $952.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.74 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stephens cut MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,044 shares in the company, valued at $360,199.08. The trade was a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.