W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Position Raised by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 694.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 76,674 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,018 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $80,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GWW. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 250.0% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 111.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 38 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,148.56.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of GWW opened at $1,027.68 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,086.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,070.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.17. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1-year low of $874.98 and a 1-year 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 21.18%.

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.