W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $38.00-40.50 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $39.46. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.2-17.7 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.48 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 38.000-40.500 EPS.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.0 %

GWW traded down $19.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $928.65. The stock had a trading volume of 357,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,833. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.14. W.W. Grainger has a 52 week low of $641.95 and a 52 week high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $980.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $872.58.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $9.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is presently 20.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GWW. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $913.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.