W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Holdings Trimmed by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 406 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $17,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 420.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. John Boyer Inc. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. EFG International AG purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on GWW. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $1,400.00 target price on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,375.00 to $1,645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,185.00 to $1,172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,331.08.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,486.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $69.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.95. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $906.52 and a 1 year high of $1,521.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,321.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,251.22.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.68 by $0.86. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 48.92% and a net margin of 11.17%. The firm had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 47.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 21.88%.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, founded in Chicago in 1927, is a distributor of maintenance, repair and operating supplies. The company provides products such as safety equipment, tools, fasteners, electrical and plumbing supplies, material-handling equipment, and cleaning products. Grainger serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations through sales representatives, distribution centers, catalogs and digital platforms. Its operations include a high-touch distribution business in North America and online businesses serving customers in markets including the United States and Japan.