Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH Makes New Investment in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 373 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $810,586,000 after buying an additional 12,445 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 13,063 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $571,042,000 after buying an additional 11,460 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $392,470,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $924.49 on Thursday. 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 $45.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.16. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $674.41 and a 1-year high of $1,034.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $934.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $920.63.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.61 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost 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 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 22.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.