MSC Industrial Direct (MSM) Competitors $85.85 +0.42 (+0.49%) Closing price 10/17/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$85.40 -0.45 (-0.52%) As of 10/17/2025 07:52 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. FAST, LECO, AIT, DCI, DOV, GGG, GWW, ITT, ITW, and PHShould you be buying MSC Industrial Direct stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of MSC Industrial Direct include Fastenal (FAST), Lincoln Electric (LECO), Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), Donaldson (DCI), Dover (DOV), Graco (GGG), W.W. Grainger (GWW), ITT (ITT), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), and Parker-Hannifin (PH). MSC Industrial Direct vs. Its Competitors Fastenal Lincoln Electric Applied Industrial Technologies Donaldson Dover Graco W.W. Grainger ITT Illinois Tool Works Parker-Hannifin Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) and MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) are both trading companies & distributors companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, media sentiment, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership. Is FAST or MSM a better dividend stock? Fastenal pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. MSC Industrial Direct pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Fastenal pays out 82.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. MSC Industrial Direct pays out 96.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Fastenal has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years and MSC Industrial Direct has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Is FAST or MSM more profitable? Fastenal has a net margin of 15.34% compared to MSC Industrial Direct's net margin of 5.30%. Fastenal's return on equity of 32.69% beat MSC Industrial Direct's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Fastenal15.34% 32.69% 24.90% MSC Industrial Direct 5.30%14.99%8.39% Do analysts recommend FAST or MSM? Fastenal currently has a consensus price target of $46.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.51%. MSC Industrial Direct has a consensus price target of $91.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.00%. Given Fastenal's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Fastenal is more favorable than MSC Industrial Direct.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Fastenal 1 Sell rating(s) 9 Hold rating(s) 4 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.33MSC Industrial Direct 0 Sell rating(s) 6 Hold rating(s) 1 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.14 Does the media prefer FAST or MSM? In the previous week, Fastenal had 93 more articles in the media than MSC Industrial Direct. MarketBeat recorded 103 mentions for Fastenal and 10 mentions for MSC Industrial Direct. Fastenal's average media sentiment score of 0.69 beat MSC Industrial Direct's score of -0.06 indicating that Fastenal is being referred to more favorably in the media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Fastenal 52 Very Positive mention(s) 14 Positive mention(s) 19 Neutral mention(s) 6 Negative mention(s) 1 Very Negative mention(s) Positive MSC Industrial Direct 3 Very Positive mention(s) 2 Positive mention(s) 2 Neutral mention(s) 2 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Neutral Do insiders & institutionals believe in FAST or MSM? 81.4% of Fastenal shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.3% of MSC Industrial Direct shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Fastenal 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, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Which has more risk & volatility, FAST or MSM? Fastenal has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MSC Industrial Direct has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Which has higher valuation and earnings, FAST or MSM? Fastenal has higher revenue and earnings than MSC Industrial Direct. MSC Industrial Direct is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fastenal, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioFastenal$7.55B6.46$1.15B$1.0739.68MSC Industrial Direct$3.82B1.25$258.59M$3.5424.25 SummaryFastenal beats MSC Industrial Direct on 16 of the 20 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. Subscribe Now View SMS TermsBy entering your phone number and clicking the sign-up button, you agree to receive periodic text messages from MarketBeat at the phone number you submitted, including texts that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. Messages will consist of stock alerts, news stories, and partner advertisements/offers. Consent is not a condition of the purchase of any goods or services. Text HELP for help/customer support. Unsubscribe at any time by replying "STOP" to any text message that you receive from MarketBeat or by visiting our mailing preferences page. Read our full terms of service and privacy policy. New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding MSM 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 Services IndustryIndustrials SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$4.76B$18.46B$7.86B$21.76BDividend Yield3.98%2.19%4.59%3.62%P/E Ratio24.2521.35285.8532.43Price / Sales1.2513.721,248.9758.85Price / Cash13.4913.5727.9124.38Price / Book3.424.304.794.59Net Income$258.59M$646.47M$790.12M$1.02B7 Day Performance0.29%1.91%0.14%1.31%1 Month Performance-7.61%3.51%1.49%-1.47%1 Year Performance1.96%24.20%26.65%9.54% MSC Industrial Direct Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)MSMMSC Industrial Direct3.4373 of 5 stars$85.85+0.5%$91.00+6.0%+2.1%$4.76B$3.82B24.257,423News CoverageUpcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastFASTFastenal4.5197 of 5 stars$43.49-5.0%$47.41+9.0%+9.4%$49.85B$7.77B41.7723,702Trending NewsEarnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionLECOLincoln Electric4.2947 of 5 stars$233.65+2.5%$239.33+2.4%+18.6%$12.88B$4.01B26.2312,000News CoverageDividend IncreaseAITApplied Industrial Technologies4.7349 of 5 stars$249.59+1.4%$285.00+14.2%+5.4%$9.42B$4.56B24.666,800News CoveragePositive NewsAnalyst RevisionDCIDonaldson4.5103 of 5 stars$81.22+1.7%$80.33-1.1%+10.8%$9.41B$3.69B26.6315,000Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastDOVDover4.9646 of 5 stars$162.81+0.8%$212.42+30.5%-14.6%$22.32B$7.75B9.8224,000News CoveragePositive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastGGGGraco4.5797 of 5 stars$81.32+1.4%$94.50+16.2%-4.1%$13.47B$2.11B28.844,300News CoveragePositive NewsUpcoming EarningsGWWW.W. Grainger4.4821 of 5 stars$942.80-0.5%$1,073.88+13.9%-14.6%$45.09B$17.48B23.9226,000Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastITTITT4.7449 of 5 stars$173.37+1.4%$190.89+10.1%+15.3%$13.52B$3.70B27.2511,700Trending NewsAnalyst RevisionITWIllinois Tool Works4.2589 of 5 stars$245.57+0.3%$262.83+7.0%-4.3%$71.57B$15.90B21.5244,000News CoveragePositive NewsUpcoming EarningsPHParker-Hannifin4.7399 of 5 stars$732.70+2.2%$786.78+7.4%+14.7%$92.72B$19.85B27.0257,950Positive NewsAnalyst Forecast Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Fastenal Competitors Lincoln Electric Competitors Applied Industrial Technologies Competitors Donaldson Competitors Dover Competitors Graco Competitors W.W. 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