W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Lifted to “Overweight” at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Stephens currently has $1,250.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $1,000.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price target for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $920.30 on Monday. W.W. Grainger has a 12-month low of $641.95 and a 12-month high of $1,034.18. The stock has a market cap of $45.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $979.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $879.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.61 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger will post 39.27 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 9.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 8.2% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,353,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Suncoast Equity Management raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.4% during the third quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 36,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,584,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth approximately $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.