MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (NYSE:MSM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $119.07 and last traded at $117.9630, with a volume of 10976 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $115.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Monday, April 27th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.71.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $101.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 0.84.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.02). MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 5.42%.The company had revenue of $917.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 8th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is 93.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 1st quarter worth about $226,000. Argent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the 1st quarter worth about $13,756,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 53,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,959,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc (NYSE: MSM) is a leading distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products serving a broad range of industrial customers across North America. The company offers an extensive portfolio of cutting tools, abrasives, measuring and inspection instruments, fasteners, safety supplies and other essential components used in manufacturing, metalworking and production environments. MSC delivers products through a multi-channel distribution network, including an extensive branch system, e-commerce platform and dedicated sales force.

In addition to its core product offerings, MSC Industrial Direct provides value-added services designed to improve productivity and reduce downtime for its customers.