W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $1,371.25, but opened at $1,280.59. W.W. Grainger shares last traded at $1,293.6870, with a volume of 59,759 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GWW shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens downgraded W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wolfe Research raised W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $1,250.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,270.50.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $60.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.75, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,340.67 and a 200 day moving average of $1,210.29.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.30 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 48.73% and a net margin of 9.92%.W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.97 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total transaction of $1,795,446.53. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,471.28. This trade represents a 39.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,624 shares of company stock valued at $3,232,291 over the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $279,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $84,000. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth $5,529,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at about $908,000. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.