W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Lowered to “Market Perform” at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer lowered shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on GWW. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 target price for the company. Finally, Baird R W upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,030.70.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW opened at $1,119.71 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger has a 1 year low of $674.41 and a 1 year high of $1,119.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,005.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $963.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $54.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.16.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.58 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 53.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 38.65 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total value of $13,481,538.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at $102,281,004.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 32.3% during the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 173.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,652,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.