W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,140.56.

GWW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares in the company, valued at $814,070.25. This trade represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total transaction of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643 over the last three months. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $281,104,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $906,700,000 after buying an additional 87,189 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 563.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 72,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,232,000 after buying an additional 61,400 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,815,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.9% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 154,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,237,000 after buying an additional 47,053 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,053.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.28 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger has a 12 month low of $826.55 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,139.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,045.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.43 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 38.94 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.23%.

About W.W. Grainger

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.