Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Takes Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,684,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GWW. Commerce Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,634,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,612,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at $267,000. Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at $38,280,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $8,515,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on GWW. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,166.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,274.12.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of GWW opened at $1,312.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.80 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,344.74 and its 200-day moving average is $1,230.47. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $906.52 and a fifty-two week high of $1,419.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.30 by $0.71. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 48.73%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $9.97 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s 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. Equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 46.1 EPS for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.49 per share. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 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.