Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock Price

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) had its target price upped by Barclays from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,080.38.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,061.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $50.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.09. 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 12-month low of $893.99 and a 12-month high of $1,218.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,103.21 and a 200 day moving average of $1,021.52.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.46% and a net margin of 9.51%.The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,205,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in 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. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 3.7% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 60,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,334,000 after purchasing an additional 2,120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.