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 report released on Sunday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on GWW. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,460.00 to $1,428.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,271.75.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,277.63 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,342.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,213.26. W.W. Grainger has a 52-week low of $906.52 and a 52-week high of $1,419.91. The firm has a market cap of $60.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released 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 business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 48.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.97 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. Analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 46.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.40%.

Insider Activity

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $491,444.31. This trade represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total value of $1,795,446.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,471.28. The trade was a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,624 shares of company stock valued at $3,232,291. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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 shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 420.0% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently 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.