StockNews.com Lowers W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Stephens raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.6 %

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $934.57 on Friday. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $641.95 and a one year high of $1,034.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $979.92 and its 200 day moving average is $877.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 39.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $392,470,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after acquiring an additional 204,507 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after acquiring an additional 47,731 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,712,000 after acquiring an additional 43,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 240,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $199,595,000 after purchasing an additional 42,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.