W.W. Grainger, Inc. to Post Q2 2023 Earnings of $8.58 Per Share, Zacks Research Forecasts (NYSE:GWW)

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) – Analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2023 earnings estimates for W.W. Grainger in a report released on Tuesday, May 23rd. Zacks Research analyst S. Deb now expects that the industrial products company will earn $8.58 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $8.53. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $35.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.W. Grainger’s Q3 2023 earnings at $8.63 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $8.12 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $34.93 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $8.67 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $8.86 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $8.68 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $9.53 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $39.55 EPS.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $9.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.57 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 61.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.07 earnings per share.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. 92 Resources reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $502.00 to $679.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $785.00 to $800.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $730.00 to $760.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $704.88.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $656.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $670.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $630.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.70. W.W. Grainger has a twelve month low of $440.48 and a twelve month high of $709.21.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be paid a $1.86 dividend. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.72. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 5th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.82%.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.74, for a total value of $325,460.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,731 shares in the company, valued at $1,183,553.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 476 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.74, for a total transaction of $325,460.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,731 shares in the company, valued at $1,183,553.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 4,623 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.66, for a total transaction of $3,072,723.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,054,739.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,220 shares of company stock worth $37,505,841. Insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,558,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,719,249,000 after buying an additional 116,455 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 3.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,192,981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,072,784,000 after buying an additional 80,677 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 739.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,090,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,545,000 after buying an additional 960,833 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,059,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $589,467,000 after buying an additional 16,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 21.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,035,669 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $713,379,000 after buying an additional 181,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.76% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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W.W. Grainger, Inc is a supplier of maintenance, repair, and operating products, with operations in North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. It operates through the following segments: High-Touch Solutions N.A., Endless Assortment, and Other. The High-Touch Solutions N.A. segment is involved in value-added MRO solutions that are rooted in deep product knowledge and customer expertise.