Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Short Interest Update

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,250,000 shares, a drop of 6.7% from the September 30th total of 6,700,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 837,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ITW. Nikulski Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.6% in the third quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 1,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.9% during the second quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ITW. Barclays lowered their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $217.00 to $215.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.90.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ITW traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $262.40. 52,377 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,061,106. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Illinois Tool Works has a 1 year low of $225.88 and a 1 year high of $271.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $255.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.37. The company has a market capitalization of $77.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.90%.

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.