MSC Industrial Direct - MSM Stock Forecast, Price & News

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, and the United Kingdom. Its 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. The company offers approximately 1.9 million stock-keeping units through its catalogs and brochures; e-commerce channels, including its Website, mscdirect.com; inventory management solutions; and call-centers and branches. It operates through a distribution network of 28 branch offices, 11 customer fulfilment centers, and seven regional inventory centers. The company serves individual machine shops, Fortune 1000 manufacturing companies, and government agencies, as well as manufacturers of various sizes. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 17th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, July 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 30th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.25.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 1.8 %

MSM Stock opened at $85.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.04. MSC Industrial Direct has a 12 month low of $71.69 and a 12 month high of $87.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $78.05 and its 200 day moving average is $80.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM - Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 29th. The industrial products company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $958.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.54 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 25.72%. The firm's revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 12th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 11th. MSC Industrial Direct's payout ratio is 55.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.25 per share, for a total transaction of $14,450,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 272,450 shares in the company, valued at $19,684,512.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson bought 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.25 per share, for a total transaction of $14,450,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 272,450 shares in the company, valued at $19,684,512.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Elizabeth Bledsoe sold 4,701 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.53, for a total transaction of $350,365.53. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,816 shares in the company, valued at $135,346.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,002 shares of company stock worth $2,367,843 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 28.28% of the company's stock.