Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $229.00 to $217.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $303.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $254.00.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock opened at $235.99 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $242.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.38. Illinois Tool Works has a 12 month low of $217.50 and a 12 month high of $271.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.82% and a net margin of 19.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is 55.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Byron Smith, Jr. purchased 775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $238.82 per share, for a total transaction of $185,085.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 121,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,018,062.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,035,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,364,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,171,006,000 after purchasing an additional 51,654 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at about $818,408,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,951,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $773,234,000 after buying an additional 122,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,350,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $353,715,000 after buying an additional 26,089 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.