Analysts Set W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Target Price at $913.89

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $913.89.

Several brokerages have issued reports on GWW. Jefferies Financial Group lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $825.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Stephens increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE GWW opened at $955.44 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $979.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $862.80. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $641.95 and a one year high of $1,034.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.05 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.2% in the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.