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

StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,140.56.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE GWW opened at $1,092.96 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger has a twelve month low of $800.97 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,151.14 and its 200 day moving average is $1,027.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $53.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.16.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 38.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at $102,281,004.56. The trade was a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,398 shares of company stock valued at $25,116,181 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GWW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $281,104,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 worth $906,700,000 after purchasing an additional 87,189 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 61,400 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 67.9% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 143,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $129,175,000 after buying an additional 57,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,815,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.