Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires New Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,612,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miller Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GWW shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target 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 report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised 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 upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Stephens lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,286.62.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,301.27 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,344.46 and its 200-day moving average is $1,232.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.29 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,419.91.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.30 by $0.71. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 48.73% and a net margin of 9.92%.The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.97 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 46.1 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

W.W. Grainger Profile

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.