W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Receives Buy (B-) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings restated their buy (b-) rating on shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) in a report released on Thursday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $950.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,035.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $963.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,215.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,176.00 to $1,007.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,053.71.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.4%

GWW opened at $955.30 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger has a twelve month low of $893.99 and a twelve month high of $1,227.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $980.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,016.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.17.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $10.07 by ($0.10). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.63% and a net margin of 10.99%.The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.86, for a total value of $496,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,758,355.06. This represents a 22.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GWW. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 196.0% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 24 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 316.7% during the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 25 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.