Korea Investment CORP Takes Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Korea Investment CORP purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 28,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,280,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 12,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,345,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,048,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $324,824,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,353.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,502,000 after acquiring an additional 29,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,591,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GWW. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,166.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,274.12.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.9%

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,312.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $61.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,344.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,229.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a twelve month low of $906.52 and a twelve month high of $1,419.91.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.30 by $0.71. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 48.73% and a net margin of 9.92%.The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 46.1 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $2.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

W.W. Grainger 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.