B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 46.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 3,539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,699,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,621,000. Finally, CI Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.9% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GWW. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. StockNews.com lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $924.49 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $934.45 and its 200 day moving average is $920.63. The company has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $674.41 and a 1 year high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.34 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

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.