UBS Group Begins Coverage on W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW)

UBS Group started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.88% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,175.62 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,073.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $986.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.15. W.W. Grainger has a 12 month low of $772.13 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 38.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total transaction of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. This trade represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,775 shares of company stock valued at $52,489,979 in the last 90 days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GWW. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 111.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 38 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other 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.