Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $270.11.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ITW. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $279.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ITW. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 7,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after purchasing an additional 398,676 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in Illinois Tool Works during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,729,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the third quarter valued at about $1,179,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 58,265 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,774,000 after buying an additional 3,227 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE ITW opened at $256.50 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $75.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $264.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.59. Illinois Tool Works has a 52 week low of $232.77 and a 52 week high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.90%.

About Illinois Tool Works

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products.