W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 10th

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of 2.05 per share by the industrial products company on Saturday, March 1st. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th.

W.W. Grainger has increased its dividend by an average of 7.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 35 years. W.W. Grainger has a dividend payout ratio of 18.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect W.W. Grainger to earn $44.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.3%.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,035.98 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,101.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,067.47. W.W. Grainger has a 12-month low of $874.98 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66. The firm has a market cap of $50.45 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.49 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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Northcoast Research began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,148.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total value of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 675 shares in the company, valued at $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.