Prudential PLC Reduces Stock Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Prudential PLC reduced its position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 843 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $6,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,107,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.3% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,772,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total transaction of $1,051,325.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 2,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,064.73, for a total transaction of $2,490,403.47. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,897,511.55. This represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,451 shares of company stock worth $7,380,743 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GWW. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,212.88.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,300.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 1.60. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $906.52 and a one year high of $1,306.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,188.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,101.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 45.34 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 paid a dividend of $2.49 per share. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 26.79%.

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.