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

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

MSC Industrial Direct has raised its dividend by an average of 3.9% per year over the last three years. MSC Industrial Direct has a dividend payout ratio of 83.3% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MSM opened at $79.84 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.46. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.93. MSC Industrial Direct has a one year low of $72.79 and a one year high of $100.35.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $928.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on MSC Industrial Direct in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Stephens lowered shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.80.

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.