Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,137 W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,253,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $399,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $598,000. LVW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 136.5% during the fourth quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,435,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GWW. Wolfe Research cut W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,120.00.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total transaction of $793,616.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,205,523.20. The trade was a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,091.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1,006.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,065.05.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.62 EPS. Equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $2.26 per share. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

W.W. Grainger 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.