W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) Could Prove to Be a Great Value Investment

Hedge fund activity in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)

At first quarter’s end, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long in this stock, up from 22 funds at the end of the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

According to hedge fund intelligence website Insider Monkey, David Blood and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management had the biggest position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW), worth close to $330.2 million, corresponding to 4.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second was Cantillon Capital Management, led by William von Mueffling, holding a $323 million position; 6.3% of its 13F portfolio was allocated to the stock. Other peers that hold long positions encompass Nigel Greig and Kenneth Cowin’s Pittencrieff Partners – Gabalex Capital, Joel Greenblatt‘s Gotham Asset Management, and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies.

Now, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. The aforementioned Renaissance Technologies assembled the most outsized position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW). Renaissance had $22.7 million invested in the company at the end of the March quarter. Dmitry Balyasny‘s Balyasny Asset Management also made a $7.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new positions were Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Owing to bullish hedge fund sentiment and the ability of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW)’s management to curtail expenses and deliver results better than the estimates, we believe that the company could make for a sound value investment.

Disclosure: None