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

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

GWW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, 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 on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total value of $11,829,368.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,035,434.45. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 15.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 20.4% in the third quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,205,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.4% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 44,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,853,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,130.45 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. W.W. Grainger has a twelve month low of $893.99 and a twelve month high of $1,218.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,059.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,000.72. The stock 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.71 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

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

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.