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

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

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $255.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $246.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $312.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $270.11.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

ITW stock opened at $259.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $76.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.07. Illinois Tool Works has a 52 week low of $232.77 and a 52 week high of $279.13.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 21.66% and a return on equity of 97.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works will post 10.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Illinois Tool Works

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ITW. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 32.8% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 21.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 71,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,843,000 after acquiring an additional 12,496 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 71.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,267,000 after acquiring an additional 14,564 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 94.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Illinois Tool Works by 165.2% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 4,263 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.77% of the company’s stock.

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.