Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Short Interest Up 10.0% in September

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,700,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the September 15th total of 6,090,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 896,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,364,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,171,006,000 after purchasing an additional 51,654 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,702,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $640,425,000 after acquiring an additional 62,645 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 9.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,527,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $361,998,000 after acquiring an additional 133,853 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.6% during the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 802,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,447,000 after purchasing an additional 35,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 742,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $176,047,000 after purchasing an additional 50,753 shares during the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $260.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 682,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,074,337. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $251.04 and its 200-day moving average is $247.41. Illinois Tool Works has a fifty-two week low of $217.50 and a fifty-two week high of $271.15. The firm has a market cap of $77.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.09. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 99.74% and a net margin of 19.15%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Illinois Tool Works’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 59.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ITW. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $251.00 to $246.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $281.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.44.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products.