Valley National Advisers Inc. Grows Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 36.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $68,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GWW. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $810,586,000 after acquiring an additional 12,445 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $571,042,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after acquiring an additional 47,731 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth about $392,470,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 440,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $365,334,000 after acquiring an additional 10,940 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, SVP Matt Fortin sold 511 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.20, for a total value of $467,667.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,691,289.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Baird R W lowered W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $1,000.00 to $975.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $959.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW traded down $3.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $914.75. 128,957 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 242,486. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $925.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $927.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $674.41 and a 1 year high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released 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 firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.61 EPS. Analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.64%.

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.