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

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,217.00.

GWW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. DA Davidson initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $1,250.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total transaction of $385,518.97. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 399 shares in the company, valued at $491,444.31. The trade was a 43.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total value of $2,490,403.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,897,511.55. This represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,451 shares of company stock worth $7,380,743 in the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mattern Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 12,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,345,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,048,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 212.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 54,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,795,000 after buying an additional 36,855 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 160.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 68,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $68,756,000 after buying an additional 41,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 15.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. now owns 22,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,280,000 after buying an additional 2,908 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,364.88 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,234.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,128.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $906.52 and a fifty-two week high of $1,365.42.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 45.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $2.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 26.79%.

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.