Kinsale Capital Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

Kinsale Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,444 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the quarter. W.W. Grainger accounts for about 1.7% of Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $5,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GWW. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 36.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,506 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,664,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,201.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 833 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 576.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 5,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,655,000 after buying an additional 4,737 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 280.4% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,621 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,365,000 after buying an additional 1,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 72.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,795 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,034,000 after buying an additional 5,804 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GWW. Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W upgraded W.W. Grainger from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded W.W. Grainger from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $925.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,086.50.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW traded up $2.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,178.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 232,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 237,434. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $772.13 and a one year high of $1,227.66. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1,078.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $988.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.15.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 38.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $814,070.25. The trade was a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 9,577 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,117.84, for a total value of $10,705,553.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,895,021.36. This represents a 68.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,900 shares of company stock valued at $52,640,733. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.