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

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) issued its 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. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 6.77%.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE MSM opened at $79.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.00 and its 200-day moving average is $81.80. MSC Industrial Direct has a one year low of $72.79 and a one year high of $104.76. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.91.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. MSC Industrial Direct’s payout ratio is 74.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.