Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) Stock

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) had its price target increased by Barclays from $215.00 to $230.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Illinois Tool Works from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded Illinois Tool Works to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.40.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of ITW traded up $1.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $263.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 882,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,065,022. Illinois Tool Works has a one year low of $225.88 and a one year high of $271.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $255.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.10.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 97.06% and a net margin of 21.66%. Illinois Tool Works’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.16 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 Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Illinois Tool Works’s dividend payout ratio is 51.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nikulski Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 1,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,390 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. 79.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Illinois Tool Works

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.