Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $175,000 in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 175,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Busey Bank raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GWW. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,151.50.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of GWW opened at $987.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a PEG 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $874.98 and a 1-year high of $1,227.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,030.14 and a 200 day moving average of $1,076.42.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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

W.W. Grainger 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.