W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Price Target Raised to $975.00 at Barclays

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $963.00 to $975.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,035.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,215.00 to $1,160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,006.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $950.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,061.57.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.3%

GWW traded up $3.05 on Friday, hitting $955.71. The company had a trading volume of 188,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 291,611. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $973.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,014.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.17. W.W. Grainger has a 52-week low of $893.99 and a 52-week high of $1,227.66.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $10.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.95 by $0.26. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 49.63% and a net margin of 10.99%.The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.87 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 39.000-39.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that W.W. Grainger will post 40.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In other news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.86, for a total value of $496,430.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,758,355.06. This represents a 22.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,731,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,462,252,000 after purchasing an additional 104,607 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,982,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,062,041,000 after buying an additional 8,735 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,260,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,306,289,000 after buying an additional 23,418 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 10.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 822,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $812,403,000 after buying an additional 75,644 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the third quarter valued at approximately $721,202,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools.