MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.80.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Stephens downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 20,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 53.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 54,138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 38,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,884,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE:MSM opened at $79.23 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.48. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52 week low of $72.79 and a 52 week high of $100.35.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.