Regents Gate Capital LLP Purchases 1,659 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Regents Gate Capital LLP boosted its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 51.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,883 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the quarter. W.W. Grainger comprises about 2.1% of Regents Gate Capital LLP's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Regents Gate Capital LLP's holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $4,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded W.W. Grainger from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $966.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,123.13.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW stock traded up $6.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $1,042.75. The stock had a trading volume of 295,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 250,229. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $50.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.18. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $888.75 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $1,061.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,038.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.51 by $0.35. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.28% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.62 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. W.W. Grainger's payout ratio is 23.21%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.20, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 3,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,622,348.80. The trade was a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,042.86, for a total value of $793,616.46. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 578 shares in the company, valued at $602,773.08. This represents a 56.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

W.W. Grainger 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.