Royal Bank of Canada Sells 10,181 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its holdings in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,555 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,181 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $105,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GWW. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total value of $1,795,446.53. Following the sale, the vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of W.W. Grainger 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 transaction of $1,051,325.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,067.24. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,624 shares of company stock valued at $3,232,291. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of GWW opened at $1,385.45 on Friday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 52-week low of $906.52 and a 52-week high of $1,419.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,336.47 and its 200-day moving average is $1,203.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.69. The firm has a market cap of $65.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 0.7%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 26.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GWW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens downgraded shares of 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 note on Tuesday, July 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,337.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,230.11.

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.