Railway Pension Investments Ltd Acquires 500 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,916 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd owned about 0.20% of W.W. Grainger worth $100,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 10.0% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 2.7% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 339 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on GWW. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Baird R W cut W.W. Grainger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Loop Capital reduced their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on W.W. Grainger from $978.00 to $972.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,017.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

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

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW traded up $10.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $952.79. 361,136 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 270,770. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.33. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $674.41 and a 52-week high of $1,034.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $924.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $944.58. The company has a market cap of $46.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.17.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.58 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 53.25% and a net margin of 10.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $9.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.1 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

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.