Wolfe Research Begins Coverage on MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM)

Investment analysts at Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s target price suggests a potential upside of 16.04% from the stock’s previous close.

MSM has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stephens cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE MSM opened at $81.87 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. MSC Industrial Direct has a 1 year low of $72.79 and a 1 year high of $104.76.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The firm had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In other news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $80,163.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of MSC Industrial Direct 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,761,435.64. This represents a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,567,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,859,000 after buying an additional 113,878 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 938,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,467,000 after acquiring an additional 61,022 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 11.1% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 918,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $79,023,000 after purchasing an additional 91,369 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 5.8% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 641,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,232,000 after purchasing an additional 35,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.3% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 361,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,135,000 after purchasing an additional 11,585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.26% 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.