MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) Competitors $77.75 +1.86 (+2.45%) Closing price 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$77.75 0.00 (0.00%) As of 08:00 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock MSM vs. AIT, WCC, BECN, AL, GATX, RUSHA, HEES, DXPE, MRC, and WLFCShould you be buying MSC Industrial Direct stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of MSC Industrial Direct include Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), WESCO International (WCC), Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN), Air Lease (AL), GATX (GATX), Rush Enterprises (RUSHA), H&E Equipment Services (HEES), DXP Enterprises (DXPE), MRC Global (MRC), and Willis Lease Finance (WLFC). These companies are all part of the "trading companies & distributors" industry. MSC Industrial Direct vs. Applied Industrial Technologies WESCO International Beacon Roofing Supply Air Lease GATX Rush Enterprises H&E Equipment Services DXP Enterprises MRC Global Willis Lease Finance Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) and MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership. Do analysts recommend AIT or MSM? Applied Industrial Technologies currently has a consensus price target of $285.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.12%. MSC Industrial Direct has a consensus price target of $82.20, suggesting a potential upside of 5.72%. Given Applied Industrial Technologies' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Applied Industrial Technologies is more favorable than MSC Industrial Direct.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Applied Industrial Technologies 0 Sell rating(s) 1 Hold rating(s) 7 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.88MSC Industrial Direct 0 Sell rating(s) 6 Hold rating(s) 0 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.29 Does the media prefer AIT or MSM? In the previous week, Applied Industrial Technologies had 21 more articles in the media than MSC Industrial Direct. MarketBeat recorded 28 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies and 7 mentions for MSC Industrial Direct. MSC Industrial Direct's average media sentiment score of 1.73 beat Applied Industrial Technologies' score of 1.22 indicating that MSC Industrial Direct is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Applied Industrial Technologies 15 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 5 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive MSC Industrial Direct 7 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 0 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Very Positive Is AIT or MSM more profitable? Applied Industrial Technologies has a net margin of 8.62% compared to MSC Industrial Direct's net margin of 6.21%. Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity of 22.37% beat MSC Industrial Direct's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Applied Industrial Technologies8.62% 22.37% 13.03% MSC Industrial Direct 6.21%17.80%10.02% Is AIT or MSM a better dividend stock? Applied Industrial Technologies pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. MSC Industrial Direct pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Applied Industrial Technologies pays out 18.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MSC Industrial Direct pays out 89.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Applied Industrial Technologies has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of AIT or MSM? 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.3% of MSC Industrial Direct shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of MSC Industrial Direct shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Which has stronger earnings and valuation, AIT or MSM? Applied Industrial Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than MSC Industrial Direct. MSC Industrial Direct is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Applied Industrial Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioApplied Industrial Technologies$4.48B1.95$385.76M$9.8723.08MSC Industrial Direct$3.75B1.15$258.59M$3.7920.51 Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AIT or MSM? MSC Industrial Direct received 133 more outperform votes than Applied Industrial Technologies when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.60% of users gave Applied Industrial Technologies an outperform vote while only 52.49% of users gave MSC Industrial Direct an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformApplied Industrial TechnologiesOutperform Votes26759.60% Underperform Votes18140.40% MSC Industrial DirectOutperform Votes40052.49% Underperform Votes36247.51% Which has more volatility & risk, AIT or MSM? Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MSC Industrial Direct has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. SummaryApplied Industrial Technologies beats MSC Industrial Direct on 17 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks. Get MSC Industrial Direct News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for MSM and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart MSM vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricMSC Industrial DirectIndustrial machinery & equipment IndustryIndustrials SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$4.33B$1.59B$7.31B$19.22BDividend Yield4.38%4.73%3.56%4.00%P/E Ratio18.5617.8421.1933.45Price / Sales1.150.6384.3929.18Price / Cash13.119.5926.9017.52Price / Book3.102.803.794.55Net Income$258.59M$104.20M$808.20M$1.02B7 Day Performance0.17%6.81%4.81%2.18%1 Month Performance-2.05%4.14%3.16%-2.05%1 Year Performance-14.67%-3.35%15.90%5.45% MSC Industrial Direct Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)MSMMSC Industrial Direct3.689 of 5 stars$77.75+2.5%$82.20+5.7%-16.5%$4.33B$3.75B18.566,990Positive NewsAITApplied Industrial Technologies4.4961 of 5 stars$239.97+0.6%$287.14+19.7%+26.6%$9.22B$4.48B24.336,100Earnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastBuyback AnnouncementNews CoveragePositive NewsWCCWESCO International4.3594 of 5 stars$163.24+1.0%$219.43+34.4%-1.7%$7.96B$21.82B12.4920,000Earnings ReportNews CoveragePositive NewsBECNBeacon Roofing Supply3.7454 of 5 stars$124.29+0.1%$121.47-2.3%N/A$7.68B$9.76B21.257,480Short Interest ↑Analyst RevisionPositive NewsALAir Lease4.5803 of 5 stars$46.58+1.6%$55.67+19.5%-6.6%$5.21B$2.73B13.99150Upcoming EarningsPositive NewsGATXGATX2.9419 of 5 stars$145.10+0.1%$167.67+15.6%+16.5%$5.18B$1.63B18.681,900Dividend AnnouncementRUSHARush Enterprises4.5509 of 5 stars$51.470.0%$69.00+34.1%+18.4%$4.08B$7.80B13.798,040Earnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastNews CoveragePositive NewsHEESH&E Equipment Services4.2655 of 5 stars$89.84+0.1%$71.33-20.6%+101.1%$3.30B$1.52B22.832,380Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastShort Interest ↓DXPEDXP Enterprises2.316 of 5 stars$85.99+0.7%$95.00+10.5%+79.1%$1.35B$1.80B22.162,490Upcoming EarningsAnalyst DowngradeNews CoveragePositive NewsMRCMRC Global4.5729 of 5 stars$11.78-0.1%$15.33+30.2%+5.3%$1.02B$3.01B13.542,800Upcoming EarningsWLFCWillis Lease Finance2.4979 of 5 stars$149.46+1.1%N/A+209.1%$986.18M$569.22M10.58240Upcoming EarningsNews CoveragePositive News Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Applied Industrial Technologies Competitors WESCO International Competitors Beacon Roofing Supply Competitors Air Lease Competitors GATX Competitors Rush Enterprises Competitors H&E Equipment Services Competitors DXP Enterprises Competitors MRC Global Competitors Willis Lease Finance Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:MSM) was last updated on 5/2/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersThink NVDA’s run was epic? 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