MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.85

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 26th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of 0.85 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%.

MSC Industrial Direct has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.9% annually over the last three years. MSC Industrial Direct has a dividend payout ratio of 83.3% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Analysts expect MSC Industrial Direct to earn $4.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 84.0%.

MSC Industrial Direct Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MSM stock traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $79.84. The company had a trading volume of 590,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,860. The company’s fifty day moving average is $80.25 and its 200 day moving average is $81.48. MSC Industrial Direct has a fifty-two week low of $72.79 and a fifty-two week high of $100.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05 and a beta of 0.90.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens lowered 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.