Q2 EPS Estimates for W.W. Grainger Raised by Zacks Research

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research increased their Q2 2026 earnings per share estimates for W.W. Grainger in a research report issued on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $10.88 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $10.86. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $45.45 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.W. Grainger’s Q2 2028 earnings at $13.57 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GWW. Stephens cut shares of W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,170.00 to $1,337.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,216.44.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.1%

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,369.66 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. W.W. Grainger has a 12-month low of $906.52 and a 12-month high of $1,405.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,305.76 and its 200 day moving average is $1,174.54. The company has a market capitalization of $64.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.84, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.03.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 26.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total transaction of $385,518.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $491,444.31. The trade was a 43.96% 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, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total transaction of $1,795,446.53. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,471.28. This represents a 39.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,624 shares of company stock worth $3,232,291 over the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1,462.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,081,554,000 after buying an additional 1,003,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $518,958,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 34,269.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 435,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 434,199 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 61.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,027,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,036,584,000 after acquiring an additional 389,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter worth $239,597,000. 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.