Brokerages Set W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) PT at $1,043.20

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,058.50.

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price for the company. Baird R W raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE GWW opened at $1,105.07 on Tuesday. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $747.00 and a one year high of $1,130.01. The company has a market cap of $53.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1,035.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger will post 38.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.23%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total value of $13,481,538.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,281,004.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Objective Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth approximately $286,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 225.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 78 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.6% during the third quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 16,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,366,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 20.4% during the third quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd. now owns 589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth approximately $295,000. 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.