Zacks Research Predicts Increased Earnings for W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) – Research analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for W.W. Grainger in a report issued on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $12.37 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $12.29. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $46.10 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.W. Grainger’s Q2 2027 earnings at $12.74 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $12.48 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $50.40 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $12.80 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $13.87 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $54.37 EPS.

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

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on GWW. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,460.00 to $1,428.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stephens downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,166.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,286.62.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,319.67 on Friday. W.W. Grainger has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,419.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.04. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,344.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,234.33.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 38.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 46,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,305,000 after purchasing an additional 12,881 shares in the last quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at about $875,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 24.1% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 363,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $494,244,000 after purchasing an additional 70,451 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.0% in the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 3,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,774,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,638,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.