W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock Rating Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,285.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,241.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $58.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.03. W.W. Grainger has a 52-week low of $906.52 and a 52-week high of $1,419.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,311.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,254.78.

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

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 25.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,303,024,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter valued at $621,127,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $518,958,000. Amundi grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 363,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $494,244,000 after acquiring an additional 70,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 409,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $446,210,000 after purchasing an additional 9,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.