W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Upgraded to “Outperform” at William Blair

William Blair upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on GWW. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,151.50.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,015.25 on Monday. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $874.98 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,053.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,076.94. The firm has a market cap of $48.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

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

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.18%.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,330,688 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,618,812,000 after purchasing an additional 40,376 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,702,000 after buying an additional 45,369 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,617,149 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,679,911,000 after acquiring an additional 40,992 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,194,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,256,400,000 after acquiring an additional 27,716 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 681,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $718,769,000 after acquiring an additional 84,595 shares in 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.