Retirement Planning Group LLC Makes New $203,000 Investment in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Retirement Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 51,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,121 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 20,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,331,000 after buying an additional 4,741 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,821,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,303,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Friday, June 14th. Stephens raised W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $910.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $930.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $924.59. The company has a market capitalization of $44.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.16. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $674.41 and a fifty-two week high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 22.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total value of $467,667.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,691,289.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.50% 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.