Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $250.75.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ITW shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus raised Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $268.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of ITW stock opened at $243.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $240.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.05. The stock has a market cap of $72.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works has a 1 year low of $217.50 and a 1 year high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 99.74% and a net margin of 19.15%. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Illinois Tool Works

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. bought 775 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 121,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,018,062.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hamel Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 3.2% in the second quarter. Hamel Associates Inc. now owns 30,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after acquiring an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Hudock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 8.3% during the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 1,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 20.1% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 96,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,606,000 after purchasing an additional 16,205 shares in the last quarter. Nottingham Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the second quarter worth about $507,000. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.8% during the second quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 3,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products.