MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.04, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $891.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $908.30 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE MSM opened at $79.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 0.89. MSC Industrial Direct has a 52 week low of $72.79 and a 52 week high of $96.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.46.

MSC Industrial Direct Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSM. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Stephens downgraded MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

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.