Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $1,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after purchasing an additional 204,507 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $520,163,000 after buying an additional 13,063 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,411,000 after buying an additional 47,731 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 455,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,478,000 after buying an additional 8,366 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 260,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $180,024,000 after buying an additional 1,371 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE GWW traded down $18.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $929.26. 357,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 211,078. The company has a market capitalization of $45.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $979.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $873.99. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $641.95 and a 12-month high of $1,034.18.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.61 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 39.26 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.54%.

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.