W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,060.1250.

GWW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,035,434.45. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 26,881 shares of company stock valued at $26,157,155 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,169,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,667,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the third quarter worth $4,205,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 10.4% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 44,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,853,000 after buying an additional 4,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 109,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,130.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.83. W.W. Grainger has a 1 year low of $893.99 and a 1 year high of $1,218.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,059.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,000.72. The firm has a market cap of $53.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.02). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.54%.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.