MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13, RTT News reports. 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 6.77% and a return on equity of 19.35%. 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.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Up 3.6 %

MSM opened at $82.75 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.81. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52 week low of $72.79 and a 52 week high of $104.76. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSM. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

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.