W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Receives $1,016.57 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,045.75.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GWW. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Oppenheimer upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.57, for a total value of $11,829,368.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,885 shares in the company, valued at $101,035,434.45. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,881 shares of company stock valued at $26,157,155. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $721,202,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter worth $536,916,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the third quarter worth $239,597,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,853,714,000 after purchasing an additional 238,895 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $422,529,000 after buying an additional 140,869 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 1.1%

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,069.55 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $893.99 and a one year high of $1,139.15. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,010.93 and its 200 day moving average is $991.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.87 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $2.26 per share. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 25.35%.

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.