W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Upgraded by Oppenheimer to “Outperform” Rating

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $1,250.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays raised 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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 report on Tuesday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,045.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,045.75.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,057.35 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,007.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $991.23. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,139.15. The company has a market capitalization of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.72.

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 the consensus estimate of $9.95 by $0.26. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. Analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,035,434.45. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 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 Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,462,252,000 after purchasing an additional 104,607 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,996,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,902,159,000 after buying an additional 13,779 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,260,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,306,289,000 after buying an additional 23,418 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at approximately $721,202,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 659,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $628,151,000 after acquiring an additional 3,114 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

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.