W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• W.W. Grainger shares rose above their 200-day moving average, trading near $1,290 versus the $1,268.40 average, signaling positive technical momentum.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has an overall “Hold” rating, with two Buys, seven Holds and one Sell, and an average price target of $1,285.
• The company delivered a quarterly earnings beat, reporting $12.01 EPS and $5.02 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 10.3% year over year; it also paid a $2.49 quarterly dividend, yielding about 0.8%.

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $1,268.40 and traded as high as $1,295.05. W.W. Grainger shares last traded at $1,290.1460, with a volume of 182,631 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GWW. Barclays lowered their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,185.00 to $1,172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 25th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Stephens cut shares of W.W. Grainger from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $1,355.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted 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 research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $1,285.00.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,290.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,268.40. The company has a market cap of $60.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.01.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $11.30 by $0.71. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 48.73% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 46.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GWW. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger during the second quarter worth $6,303,024,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $621,127,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 24.1% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 363,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $494,244,000 after acquiring an additional 70,451 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 409,142 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $446,210,000 after purchasing an additional 9,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $407,051,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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