W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Receives $1,009.43 Consensus PT from Brokerages

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,009.4286.

GWW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,021.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $973.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $991.61. The stock has a market cap of $48.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.11. W.W. Grainger has a 1-year low of $893.99 and a 1-year high of $1,139.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 9.75%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.87 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 3,174 shares in the company, valued at $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.81, for a total value of $14,128,119.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 107,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,929,232.22. The trade was a 11.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $721,202,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $536,916,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter worth $239,597,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,627,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,853,714,000 after purchasing an additional 238,895 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in W.W. Grainger by 46.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 443,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $422,529,000 after purchasing an additional 140,869 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.