Essex Financial Services Inc. Acquires Shares of 221 W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 92,754.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 87,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $906,700,000 after acquiring an additional 87,189 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,815,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,653.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $60,058,000 after purchasing an additional 53,729 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,074,702,000 after purchasing an additional 45,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 8.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 546,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $568,188,000 after buying an additional 42,866 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on GWW. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Loop Capital raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Finally, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,148.56.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,028.34 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,089.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,069.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.17. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12-month low of $874.98 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $8.33 EPS. Analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 21.18%.

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.