UBS Group Begins Coverage on W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW)

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.88% from the stock’s previous close.

GWW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Loop Capital lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer cut W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued 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 $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,175.62 on Wednesday. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $772.13 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,073.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $986.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $57.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.43 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 38.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total value of $10,705,553.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,895,021.36. The trade was a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,775 shares of company stock valued at $52,489,979. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the first quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 9.4% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the first quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 78.9% in the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 11,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,987,000 after buying an additional 5,195 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.