Analysts Set W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) PT at $1,120.00

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,120.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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 upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,072.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,012.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,064.69. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $874.98 and a one year high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.62 EPS. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,388,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,322,801,000 after purchasing an additional 57,690 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,194,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,256,400,000 after purchasing an additional 27,716 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 822,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $812,403,000 after purchasing an additional 75,644 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 100,843.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 692,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $684,042,000 after purchasing an additional 691,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $718,769,000 after purchasing an additional 84,595 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.