W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Upgraded to Hold at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday morning, Zacks.com reports.

GWW has been the subject of several other reports. Erste Group Bank restated a hold rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $990.00 price target on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $1,014.11.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE GWW opened at $1,032.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $50.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $974.41 and a 200-day moving average of $957.40. W.W. Grainger has a 1-year low of $674.41 and a 1-year high of $1,049.02.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.58 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 53.25% and a net margin of 10.86%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 38.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.64%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth $281,104,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 17.4% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,148,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,167,913,000 after buying an additional 169,897 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the first quarter valued at $159,365,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 563.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 72,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,232,000 after buying an additional 61,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 67.9% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 143,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $129,175,000 after acquiring an additional 57,894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

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.