Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 249 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $9,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 23.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 193,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $201,413,000 after buying an additional 36,892 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,320,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Commerce Bank grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 6,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,889,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 250.9% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,828 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 9.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GWW. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair raised W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,151.50.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE GWW opened at $971.57 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $874.98 and a 12 month high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market cap of $46.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,038.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,075.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 21.18%.

W.W. Grainger 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.