Short Interest in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Declines By 10.6%

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a decline of 10.6% from the January 15th total of 1,510,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 262,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GWW. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at $848,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 313.3% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 1,521 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,741,000. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 72.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 9,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 27.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $1,280.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,148.56.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW traded down $4.54 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,023.20. 377,332 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 298,995. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,080.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,072.69. W.W. Grainger has a 1 year low of $874.98 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $8.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.18%.

About W.W. Grainger

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.