Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Cut to Underperform at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered shares of Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) from an in-line rating to an underperform rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $255.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $246.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on ITW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $260.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $281.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $257.30.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $270.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.10. 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 has a 1 year low of $232.77 and a 1 year high of $277.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $260.09 and a 200-day moving average of $248.90.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. The company had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Illinois Tool Works’s payout ratio is currently 51.90%.

Institutional Trading of Illinois Tool Works

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,292,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,645,972,000 after purchasing an additional 167,422 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 776,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $203,619,000 after buying an additional 12,988 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 261.6% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 9.7% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 261,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,567,000 after acquiring an additional 23,082 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.