Syon Capital LLC Buys 141 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Loop Capital downgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stephens raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. 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 note on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 2.0 %

GWW stock opened at $928.65 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $641.95 and a fifty-two week 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 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $979.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $873.99.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.61 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 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 approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.