MSC Industrial Direct's (MSM) "Overweight" Rating Reiterated at Stephens

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reiterated by analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $110.00 price objective on the industrial products company's stock. Stephens' price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.63% from the company's current price.

Separately, KeyCorp reduced their price target on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSC Industrial Direct has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.00.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $95.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 860,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 481,802. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52 week low of $83.04 and a 52 week high of $105.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $98.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 0.95.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSC Industrial Direct will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 51,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.31, for a total transaction of $4,966,702.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,907,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,596,541.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other MSC Industrial Direct news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total transaction of $1,442,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,417,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $136,248,203.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 51,040 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.31, for a total value of $4,966,702.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,907,271 shares in the company, valued at $185,596,541.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,841,663 over the last ninety days. 18.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,359,260 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $534,178,000 after purchasing an additional 327,944 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $472,790,000 after purchasing an additional 197,193 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,367,455 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $114,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24,040 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,080,301 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $106,032,000 after purchasing an additional 52,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,023,981 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $87,253,000 after purchasing an additional 5,411 shares during the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.