W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Stephens downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,185.00 to $1,172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,285.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,290.15 on Friday. W.W. Grainger has a 52 week low of $906.52 and a 52 week high of $1,419.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81. The company has a market capitalization of $60.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.90, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $1,290.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,268.40.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted 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 company had revenue of $5.02 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.97 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. Research analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 46.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 (DPR) is currently 25.40%.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $324,824,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1,353.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,502,000 after buying an additional 29,092 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,591,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 79.2% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares during the period. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 15.2% in the second quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 6,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,272,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc is a distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and related services. The company serves businesses, government organizations and other institutions that need supplies to maintain facilities, equipment and operations.

Its product offerings include tools, safety equipment, cleaning and maintenance supplies, material-handling products, electrical and plumbing components, lighting, heating and cooling equipment, and other industrial and facility-management products.