W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) released its earnings results on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $9.61 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger updated its FY24 guidance to $38.00-40.50 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 38.000-40.500 EPS.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $928.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. W.W. Grainger has a 1 year low of $641.95 and a 1 year high of $1,034.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $979.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $873.99. The company has a market cap of $45.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 20.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Loop Capital lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy 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 $913.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.