Brokerages Set W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Target Price at $913.89

Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $913.89.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Stephens upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Retirement Group LLC boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2,450.0% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 51 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $937.24 on Friday. W.W. Grainger has a 12 month low of $641.95 and a 12 month high of $1,034.18. The company has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $979.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $863.92.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 20.55%.

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.