Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 60.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,910 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $13,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 52.6% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 30 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 1,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,035.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $1,009.43.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $994.17 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $893.99 and a 52-week high of $1,169.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $954.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $997.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 49.40%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.87 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total transaction of $11,829,368.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,035,434.45. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.