StockNews.com Upgrades W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GWW. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer cut shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,058.50.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 6.5 %

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,195.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $764.13 and a one year high of $1,199.00. The company has a market cap of $58.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,041.21 and a 200-day moving average of $974.44.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 38.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,198 shares of company stock valued at $41,784,426. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,148,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,167,913,000 after buying an additional 169,897 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 360,026 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,841,000 after purchasing an additional 17,699 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $281,104,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 243,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,386,000 after buying an additional 1,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 23.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 193,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $201,413,000 after acquiring an additional 36,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

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.