StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on ITW. Citigroup raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $222.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $170.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $172.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $223.07.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $229.81 on Thursday. Illinois Tool Works has a one year low of $173.52 and a one year high of $253.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $70.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $234.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.85.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.60 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.04% and a return on equity of 87.15%. Illinois Tool Works’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 13th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Vice Chairman Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 60,137 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.26, for a total transaction of $14,809,337.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,868,130.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Illinois Tool Works news, Vice Chairman Christopher A. O’herlihy sold 60,137 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.26, for a total transaction of $14,809,337.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,868,130.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ernest Scott Santi sold 235,656 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.29, for a total value of $58,039,716.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,592,274.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

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Illinois Tool Works, Inc engages in the manufacture of industrial products and equipment. It operates through the following segments: Automotive OEM, Test and Measurement and Electronics, Food Equipment, Polymers and Fluids, Welding, Construction Products, and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment produces components and fasteners for automotive-related applications.