UBS Group Initiates Coverage on W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW)

UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $1,280.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GWW. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research raised W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,178.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,078.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $988.02. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $772.13 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The firm has a market cap of $57.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.43 EPS. On average, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 38.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,208,610,000 after acquiring an additional 28,626 shares during the period. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 6,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,328,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 7,146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,424,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 3,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,079,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.