520 Shares in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Purchased by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $810,586,000 after acquiring an additional 12,445 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $520,163,000 after purchasing an additional 13,063 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $571,042,000 after buying an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after buying an additional 47,731 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $392,470,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Baird R W lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.8 %

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $924.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.19. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $674.41 and a fifty-two week high of $1,034.18. The stock has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $934.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $920.63.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.61 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

W.W. Grainger 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.