Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Takes Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,290,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 136.4% in the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3,900.0% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 40 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GWW. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,071.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total transaction of $199,666.35. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of GWW opened at $1,106.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1,097.41 and its 200 day moving average is $1,019.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.83. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $893.99 and a fifty-two week high of $1,218.63.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.46 by ($0.01). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.54%.

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.