W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $1,206.49 and last traded at $1,197.9720, with a volume of 21445 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1,188.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GWW. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $963.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price 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 report on Monday, November 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,060.13.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,048.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $998.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.10.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.02). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. On average, analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 14,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $972.81, for a total transaction of $14,128,119.63. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 107,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,929,232.22. This represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,249,953.82. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 26,881 shares of company stock worth $26,157,155 over the last three months. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 483 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.