Renaissance Group LLC Has $33.72 Million Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Renaissance Group LLC trimmed its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,266 shares during the quarter. W.W. Grainger comprises approximately 1.5% of Renaissance Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Renaissance Group LLC owned about 0.10% of W.W. Grainger worth $33,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 565.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,738 shares during the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,072 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,046,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 67,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,513,000 after acquiring an additional 3,022 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 65,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,591,000 after acquiring an additional 7,657 shares during the last quarter. 71.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $795.00 to $790.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $647.00 to $653.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $820.00 to $750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 28th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $775.00 target price on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Friday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $734.63.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW traded up $1.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $693.39. 44,563 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,182. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $483.19 and a fifty-two week high of $811.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $34.67 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $735.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $701.53.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $9.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.96 by $0.32. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 60.40%. The firm had revenue of $4.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.19 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 36.03 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 14th were given a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 21.44%.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services in the United States, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety and security supplies, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance supplies, and metalworking and hand tools.