Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys 17,750 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 89,186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,750 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $80,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 170.0% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 275.0% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 225.0% during the first quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Baird R W cut W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,014.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,032.22 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $50.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.40. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $674.41 and a 1 year high of $1,037.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $970.23 and a 200 day moving average of $956.01.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.58 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 53.25%. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.64%.

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.