Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 378 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $19,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 314.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GWW. Barclays dropped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,171.00 to $1,166.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,216.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 1.0%

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,363.25 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $64.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.03. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $906.52 and a fifty-two week high of $1,390.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,287.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,164.73.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. Analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $2.49 per share. This is an increase from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 26.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total value of $385,518.97. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 399 shares in the company, valued at $491,444.31. This represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total transaction of $1,051,325.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,913,067.24. This trade represents a 35.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,624 shares of company stock worth $3,232,291. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.