Why is there no direct message widget on my Galaxy S6 stock? On a brand new Samsung Galaxy S6 in Europe with Android 5.1.1 and Nova Launcher there are widgets for adding a shortcut into a contact and to call a contact's phone number, but the one for text messages/SMS that I know from older versions. On my S5 with 5.0 I have this widget. I have not installed an additional messaging app that replaces the stock SMS application.

How do I get a shortcut for sending SMS to a contact?

 
On Android 5.0, the widget is there (1st pic) | On Android 5.1.1, it's not (2nd pic) – click images to enlarge
tl;dr
It seems this is an issue specific to some Samsung Galaxy S-series devices running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. There's nothing we can't do other than waiting for update from Samsung (if it's really a bug).

I believe it's either a bug, or Samsung's decision to remove &quot;Direct Message&quot; widget (for unknown reason) from their Contacts app. There were some reports about this issue.
From a post on AndroidCentral forum,

I've been trading support emails with the Nova folks. According to them, &quot;Samsung removed the direct dial shortcut for no apparent reason in their Lollipop update. It is also missing from the TouchWiz launcher.&quot;

Another thread also asked the same issue,

I just upgraded to the S6 and it has Android 5.1.1.
There are a few things I can't figure out.
[...]
3. How can I set up Direct Dial shortcut on home screen and Direct Message? [...]

And lastly, on T-Mobile forum which gives hint on not carrier-specific,

My wife and I both have the S5 on 5.1.1 (F0G6) and both have this problem since the update. It happens for Direct Message shortcuts/widgets too. It appears to be a TouchWiz bug (guessing) since changing Launchers to something like Nova keeps the shortcut ... It is a small thing but a big problem for me - help!
My best friend has Verizon, and hers are disappearing as well, so I don't think it's a T-Mobile issue, I think it's an OS issue.

Which was replied with,

This is a known issues. Both T-Mobile and Samsung are trying to find out what is causing it and fix