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

Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,080.3750.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stance Capital LLC lifted its position in W.W. Grainger by 197.6% during the 4th quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 3,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,018,000 after buying an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 1,392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $605,000. Finally, Bayban acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,043.01 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,104.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,022.20. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $893.99 and a one year high of $1,218.63. The firm has a market cap of $49.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue 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. On average, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

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.