M&T Bank Corp Grows Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 10.2% in Q4 to 10,447 shares, valued at about $10.54 million, according to its most recent 13F filing.
• W.W. Grainger raised its quarterly dividend to $2.49 (annualized $9.96), with an ex-dividend/record date of May 11 and a yield of roughly 0.9%.
• Analysts' consensus is Hold with an average price target of $1,118.14, though several firms recently raised targets (e.g., Oppenheimer to $1,300, Morgan Stanley to $1,190, JPMorgan to $1,165).

M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,447 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 964 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $10,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,805,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 277 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,772,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGH Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1,118.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at $11,745,625.48. This trade represents a 12.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,135.44 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $1,118.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,054.87. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $906.52 and a 52-week high of $1,218.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The business's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 43.61 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is 25.54%.

W.W. Grainger Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc NYSE: GWW is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger's product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.

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