JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM)

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $95.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 0.13% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $95.00 price target on MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.50.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSM opened at $94.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.46. The stock has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92 and a beta of 0.84. MSC Industrial Direct has a 1 year low of $68.10 and a 1 year high of $95.60.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $965.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.52 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mitchell Jacobson purchased 22,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $84.96 per share, for a total transaction of $1,943,035.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,328,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,803,192.32. This represents a 0.99% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Philip Peller bought 6,666 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $90.14 per share, for a total transaction of $600,873.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,537 shares in the company, valued at $859,665.18. This represents a 232.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 19.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the second quarter worth $1,352,000. Arjuna Capital acquired a new position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct in the third quarter worth about $4,274,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,950,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 250,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,289,000 after acquiring an additional 14,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in MSC Industrial Direct during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,190,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

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.