W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 38.000-40.500 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 39.360. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.2 billion-$17.7 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.5 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY24 guidance to $38.00-40.50 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Loop Capital cut W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE GWW traded down $18.58 on Friday, hitting $929.26. 357,385 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 211,078. 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 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $45.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $979.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $873.99.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.61 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 20.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.