Legal & General Group Plc Takes $407.05 Million Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 299,214 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,051,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GWW. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,063,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $137,000. Sone Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,187,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Finally, Group One Trading LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at $165,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $1,301.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,344.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,232.38. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,419.91.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its 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. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 48.73%. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.97 EPS. The business’s 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. 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 25.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GWW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Stephens downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,166.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,286.62.

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.