TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Acquires 1,301 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 13.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $10,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GWW. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 136.4% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.81, for a total transaction of $14,128,119.63. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,929,232.22. This trade represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of GWW opened at $1,081.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.12. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52 week low of $893.99 and a 52 week high of $1,130.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,014.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $992.40.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,045.75.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.