Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Reduces Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $5,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after buying an additional 204,507 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew 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 buying an additional 47,731 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 82,775.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 43,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,712,000 after acquiring an additional 43,043 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 102.1% during the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,565,000 after acquiring an additional 23,055 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,809,000 after acquiring an additional 22,523 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. Stephens increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on 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, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $929.26 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $979.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $873.99. The stock has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.14. 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 quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.19.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.