Everpar Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,375 W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,353,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 23,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,488,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 26.9% in the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.7% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GWW. Loop Capital dropped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $975.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $938.89.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW traded up $3.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $948.92. The company had a trading volume of 234,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 238,648. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $977.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $886.65. The stock has a market cap of $46.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.33. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $641.95 and a twelve month high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.27 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 9.50% of the stock is owned by 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.