W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,151.50.

Several research analysts recently commented on GWW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 111.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 38 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $987.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,030.14 and a 200 day moving average of $1,076.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $47.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger has a 52 week low of $874.98 and a 52 week high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 21.18%.

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.