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

Investment analysts at UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 5.48% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GWW. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer cut W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of GWW traded up $5.16 on Wednesday, reaching $1,213.50. The stock had a trading volume of 24,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,232. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,064.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $983.47. W.W. Grainger has a 12-month low of $772.13 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66.

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

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,513,055.31. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total transaction of $778,335.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at $10,513,055.31. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,775 shares of company stock valued at $52,489,979 in the last quarter. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth $281,104,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,148,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,167,913,000 after purchasing an additional 169,897 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter valued at $159,365,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $906,700,000 after purchasing an additional 87,189 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 563.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 72,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,232,000 after purchasing an additional 61,400 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.