National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $11,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GWW has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stephens upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $1,000.00 to $1,250.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.3 %

GWW opened at $948.92 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $641.95 and a 12-month high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $976.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $887.09.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.64%.

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.