MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) PT Lowered to $75.00

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Loop Capital from $80.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Loop Capital’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.47% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $95.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Baird R W lowered MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. KeyCorp lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Down 1.9 %

MSM traded down $1.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.51. 541,322 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 534,043. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. MSC Industrial Direct has a one year low of $75.05 and a one year high of $105.77. The company has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.88.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 22.58%. The business had revenue of $979.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $979.10 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. MSC Industrial Direct’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,088,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,649,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $472,790,000 after purchasing an additional 197,193 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the 1st quarter worth approximately $16,571,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 605,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,307,000 after buying an additional 113,068 shares during the period. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MSC Industrial Direct

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.