W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Short Interest Update

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, a growth of 25.8% from the May 31st total of 1,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 244,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GWW. UBS Group upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Baird R W lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $896.19 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $927.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $926.88. 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 has a 52 week low of $674.41 and a 52 week high of $1,034.18. The company has a market cap of $43.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.17.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.61 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger will post 39.22 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $2.05 dividend. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total value of $467,667.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,691,289.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 170.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 275.0% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 45 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

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.