Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,625 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $18,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GWW. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,016.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.74. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $888.75 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66. The firm has a market cap of $48.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,055.94 and its 200 day moving average is $1,043.43.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.28% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total transaction of $793,616.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,773.08. The trade was a 56.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total value of $1,160,647.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,205,523.20. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,205 shares of company stock worth $2,255,320. 6.10% 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.