W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,096.7143.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer increased 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 research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total transaction of $2,490,403.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $10,897,511.55. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GWW. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,169,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,205,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 20.4% in the 3rd 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. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 60,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,334,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 109,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,172.41 on Tuesday. W.W. Grainger has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,218.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,118.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,033.14. The firm has a market cap of $55.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 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 business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend 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.