UBS Group AG Raises Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

UBS Group AG increased its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,197 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned 0.22% of W.W. Grainger worth $90,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $963.36 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $971.59 and a 200 day moving average of $903.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $641.95 and a 1 year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $47.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.34 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.64%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

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

W.W. Grainger Company 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.