W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 113.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 5,242 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $10,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its stake in W.W. Grainger by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 12,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,345,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $1,048,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 72.3% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,374,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 160.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 68,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,756,000 after buying an additional 41,990 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 526.9% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GWW. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,337.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,171.00 to $1,166.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wolfe Research raised W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,230.11.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,354.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.69. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $906.52 and a fifty-two week high of $1,419.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,319.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,187.11. The company has a market capitalization of $63.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.03.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.46 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $2.49 dividend. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total transaction of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,067.24. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total value of $385,518.97. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $491,444.31. This represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,624 shares of company stock valued at $3,232,291. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.