W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GWW. Oppenheimer raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,199.13.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.7%

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,247.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.60. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $906.52 and a one year high of $1,286.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,148.54 and its 200 day moving average is $1,079.40.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.86 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 45.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,913,067.24. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total value of $385,518.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 399 shares in the company, valued at $491,444.31. This trade represents a 43.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,451 shares of company stock worth $7,380,743 over the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.