Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $268.50.

ITW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $266.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays raised shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $230.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $262.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,370,254 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $358,321,000 after buying an additional 398,676 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the third quarter worth $1,179,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 11.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 36,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,680,000 after acquiring an additional 3,903 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 7.3% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 144,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,999,000 after acquiring an additional 9,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 318.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 405,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,352,000 after purchasing an additional 308,935 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $253.56 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $74.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.10. Illinois Tool Works has a twelve month low of $232.77 and a twelve month high of $279.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $267.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 51.90%.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products.