Zacks Research Forecasts Higher Earnings for W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for W.W. Grainger in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $12.40 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $12.37. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $46.24 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.W. Grainger’s FY2027 earnings at $50.46 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $12.84 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $13.89 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $54.48 EPS.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.30 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.97 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS.

GWW has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,460.00 to $1,428.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,185.00 to $1,172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on 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. Two equities 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,285.00.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,248.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.80 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,307.03 and its 200 day moving average is $1,257.78. W.W. Grainger 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 quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,879,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 56.5% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 36 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 3.5% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,482,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter worth approximately $431,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in W.W. Grainger by 7.3% in the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.40%.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc is a distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and related services. The company serves businesses, government organizations and other institutions that need supplies to maintain facilities, equipment and operations.

Its product offerings include tools, safety equipment, cleaning and maintenance supplies, material-handling products, electrical and plumbing components, lighting, heating and cooling equipment, and other industrial and facility-management products.