W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GWW. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stephens cut W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wolfe Research started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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, August 24th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,285.00.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,241.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,311.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,255.76. W.W. Grainger has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,419.91.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.30 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 48.73% and a net margin of 9.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.97 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 46.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,879,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 56.5% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 36 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.5% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,482,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at approximately $431,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 7.3% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc is a distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and related services. The company serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations that need supplies to maintain facilities, equipment and operations. Its product categories include tools, safety equipment, material handling products, cleaning and maintenance supplies, electrical and lighting products, plumbing supplies, HVAC equipment and fasteners.

Founded in 1927 by William W. Grainger, the company has grown from a regional electrical-equipment distributor into a global MRO provider.