Brokerages Set W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Price Target at $1,286.62

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,286.6250.

GWW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,460.00 to $1,428.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Stephens lowered W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,166.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.7%

GWW stock opened at $1,270.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,334.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,245.11. W.W. Grainger has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,419.91. The company has a market cap of $59.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.03.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.30 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.96 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 48.73% and a net margin of 9.92%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.97 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 46.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in W.W. Grainger by 18.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 169.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,407 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,051,000 after purchasing an additional 10,784 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc is a distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and related services. The company serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations that need supplies to maintain facilities, equipment and operations. Its product categories include tools, safety equipment, material handling products, cleaning and maintenance supplies, electrical and lighting products, plumbing supplies, HVAC equipment and fasteners.

Founded in 1927 by William W. Grainger, the company has grown from a regional electrical-equipment distributor into a global MRO provider.