W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $1,306.51 and last traded at $1,300.7210, with a volume of 57624 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1,289.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GWW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stephens upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,212.88.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,184.13 and a 200-day moving average of $1,099.83.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $2.49 dividend. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 26.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,750,471.28. This trade represents a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total value of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,554 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,067.24. This represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 51.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,247,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.5% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,420 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,912,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Summitry LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 7.1% in the first quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 17.1% in the first quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 623 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Groupe la Francaise increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 7.7% in the first quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 3,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,788,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.