Brokerages Set W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) PT at $913.89

Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $913.89.

GWW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $825.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 275.0% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of GWW stock opened at $955.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $641.95 and a one year high of $1,034.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $979.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $862.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. Analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.55%.

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.