Zacks Research Comments on W.W. Grainger, Inc.’s Q4 2024 Earnings (NYSE:GWW)

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note issued on Friday, April 19th. Zacks Research analyst S. Deb now forecasts that the industrial products company will earn $9.20 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $9.19. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $39.26 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.W. Grainger’s Q1 2025 earnings at $10.18 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $10.80 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $10.60 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $10.51 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $42.09 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $11.03 EPS.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on GWW. Stephens increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Loop Capital lowered W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GWW opened at $942.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $979.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $869.76. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $641.95 and a one year high of $1,034.18. The firm has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.05 by $0.28. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 56.54% and a net margin of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after acquiring an additional 204,507 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $810,586,000 after acquiring an additional 12,445 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $520,163,000 after acquiring an additional 13,063 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 689,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $571,042,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 8.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 625,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $432,411,000 after acquiring an additional 47,731 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total value of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.55%.

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.