New England Research & Management Inc. Takes $272,000 Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bancreek Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,687,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 2,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,306,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Puff Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $280,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 694.1% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 76,674 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,818,000 after purchasing an additional 67,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GWW. William Blair upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,063.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,044.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,051.84. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $888.75 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,773.08. This represents a 56.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total value of $301,056.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,622,348.80. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,205 shares of company stock worth $2,255,320. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger 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.