CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $6,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 1st quarter worth about $487,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 140 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $400,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,401,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the subject of several research reports. Baird R W upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,178.33 on Monday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $772.13 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,078.55 and a 200-day moving average of $988.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,509 shares in the company, valued at $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total transaction of $10,705,553.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares in the company, valued at $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. Company insiders own 9.50% 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.