Man Group plc Makes New Investment in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 4,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,918,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new position in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,048,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at $324,824,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 1,353.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,502,000 after acquiring an additional 29,092 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter worth $11,591,000. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 253.8% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 3,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key W.W. Grainger News

Here are the key news stories impacting W.W. Grainger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded GWW to a No. 2 (Buy) rank, citing growing optimism about the company’s earnings prospects. Zacks rating upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple future EPS estimates, including FY2027 to $50.40 from $50.21 and FY2028 to $54.37 from $54.17. Estimates were also increased for Q1 2027, Q2 2027, Q4 2027 and Q2 2028, suggesting modestly improving expectations for profitability. MarketBeat analyst estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Grainger’s latest reported quarter exceeded expectations, with EPS of $12.01 versus the $11.30 consensus and revenue of $5.02 billion versus $4.96 billion. Revenue increased 10.3% year over year, supporting the case for continued earnings growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street commentary is mixed: GWW has outperformed the broader market over the past year, but analysts remain cautious about its future upside. Barchart analyst outlook article
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation may be limiting enthusiasm. Grainger trades at roughly 33 times earnings, while its shares are below the 50-day moving average after approaching a 12-month high. Investors may be taking profits or demanding stronger estimate increases before bidding the stock higher. MSN analyst outlook article

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GWW shares. Barclays raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,166.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,286.62.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 1.2%

W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,305.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $61.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.29, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,342.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,234.83. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,419.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $9.97 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. Equities analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 46.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

About W.W. Grainger

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.