HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Trims Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC cut its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 73,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,128,000 after acquiring an additional 3,347 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,359,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 4,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,311,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 76,786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,256,000 after buying an additional 22,375 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW stock opened at $1,006.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $48.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,019.98 and a 200-day moving average of $1,077.19. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $874.98 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 EPS 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 company earned $8.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 21.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,151.50.

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.