Is it Time to Sell Your Grainger (GWW) Shares?

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Mid Cap Growth Strategy” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. During the fourth quarter, the ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy outperformed its Russell Midcap Growth benchmark. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had gains across eight of the 10 sectors in which it was invested during the quarter (out of 11 sectors total), with the IT sector the leading contributor, while the consumer discretionary sector was the primary detractor. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

ClearBridge Investments Mid Cap Growth Strategy, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) and discussed its stance on the firm. Founded in 1927, W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) is a Lake Forest, Illinois-based industrial supply company with a $26.8 billion market capitalization, and is currently spearheaded by its CEO, Donald G. Macpherson. W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) delivered a 1.52% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 31.95%. The stock closed at $526.12 per share on April 06, 2022.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments Mid Cap Growth Strategy has to say about W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“With this mosaic as a backdrop, we continued to find companies with product and service innovation, sound leadership, and capital adequacy. For the second year in a row, managements were tested with a harrowing array of shortages in both labor and products, higher input costs, and the continuing mutations of COVID-19. Most companies in the Strategy came through with strong profit growth but inevitably some businesses struggled as the year progressed. Other companies had “tough comps” versus the above-normal growth of 2020. We also closed out three names as we constantly seek ways to improve the Strategy’s overall growth profile. We also exited Grainger, industrial maintenance, repair, and overhaul distributor, to fund better ideas elsewhere in the portfolio.”

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Our calculations show that W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) was in 28 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 28 funds in the previous quarter. W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) delivered a 3.50% return in the past 3 months.

In February 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.