MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. is a distributor of metalworking and industrial products serving manufacturers and other organizations across North America. The company provides products used in maintenance, repair and operations, including cutting tools, abrasives, tooling components, fasteners, safety equipment, material handling supplies, and janitorial and facility-maintenance products.

MSC serves customers through an omnichannel platform that includes e-commerce, sales representatives, customer service teams, catalogs, and branch locations. In addition to product distribution, the company provides inventory-management programs, vending solutions, technical support, and other services designed to help customers improve procurement and manufacturing efficiency.

Founded in 1941, MSC Industrial Direct has developed from a metalworking-products supplier into a broad industrial supply partner. Its customer base includes businesses in manufacturing and metal fabrication, as well as government, education, healthcare, and other institutional markets. The company is headquartered in Melville, New York, and Davidson, North Carolina, and is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Erik Gershwind.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $129.92 to $132.77
• 50-Day Range: $116.49 to $132.46
• 52-Week Range: $78.80 to $132.77
• Volume: 740,859 shs
• Average Volume: 832,529 shs
• Market Capitalization: $7.40 billion
• P/E Ratio: 32.00
• Dividend Yield: 2.63%
• Price Target: $127.63
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

MSC Industrial Direct scored higher than 62% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 384th out of 655 stocks in the industrials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.1 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

MSC Industrial Direct has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.67, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, 4 buy ratings, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for MSC Industrial Direct is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

MSC Industrial Direct has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 15.64%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for MSC Industrial Direct are expected to grow by 15.64% in the coming year, from $4.54 to $5.25 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of MSC Industrial Direct is 32.00, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 39.94.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of MSC Industrial Direct is 32.00, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Industrials sector average P/E ratio of about 22.46.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

MSC Industrial Direct has a P/B Ratio of 5.29. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.42% of the float of MSC Industrial Direct has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

MSC Industrial Direct has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.02, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in MSC Industrial Direct has recently decreased by 0.15%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

MSC Industrial Direct pays a meaningful dividend of 2.63%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

MSC Industrial Direct has only been increasing its dividend for 3 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of MSC Industrial Direct is 84.06%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, MSC Industrial Direct will have a dividend payout ratio of 66.29% next year. This indicates that MSC Industrial Direct will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.33

News Sentiment

MSC Industrial Direct has a news sentiment score of 0.33. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.57 average news sentiment score of Industrials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 8 news articles for MSC Industrial Direct this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 1 people have searched for MSM on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of 0% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

3 people have added MSC Industrial Direct to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.4 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, MSC Industrial Direct insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

19.00% of the stock of MSC Industrial Direct is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

79.26% of the stock of MSC Industrial Direct is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/01/2026
• Record date for 7/22 Dividend: 7/08/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 7/22 Dividend: 7/08/2026
• Dividend Payable: 7/22/2026
• Today: 10/14/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/22/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 8/31/2027

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Industrials
• Industry: Trading Companies & Distributors
• Sub-Industry: Trading Companies & Distributors
• Current Symbol: NYSE:MSM
• CIK: 1003078
• Web: www.mscdirect.com
• Phone: (516) 812-2000
• Fax: 516-349-7096
• Employees: 7,284
• Year Founded: 1941

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for MSC Industrial Direct: $127.63
• High Price Target: $155.00
• Low Price Target: $94.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: -3.7%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.67
• Research Coverage: 9 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $4.14
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 30.52
• Forward P/E Ratio: 29.18
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $199.33 million
• Net Margins: 5.91%
• Pretax Margin: 7.78%
• Return on Equity: 17.34%
• Return on Assets: 9.79%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.06
• Current Ratio: 1.55
• Quick Ratio: 0.72

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $3.77 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.96
• Cash Flow: $5.43 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 24.38
• Book Value: $25.03 per share
• Price / Book: 5.29

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 55,850,000
• Free Float: 45,235,000
• Market Cap: $7.40 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.82