Wall Street Zen Upgrades W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded W.W. Grainger to “buy” from “hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “hold,” with two buys, seven holds and one sell and an average price target of $1,271.75.
• Grainger’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $12.01 per share versus $11.30 forecast and revenue of $5.02 billion; revenue increased 10.3% year over year.
• Shares opened at $1,277.63, down 0.4%, while insiders sold roughly $3.23 million of stock over the past 90 days; institutional investors own 80.7% of the company.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GWW. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,171.00 to $1,166.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. DA Davidson increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,460.00 to $1,428.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens lowered W.W. Grainger from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $1,355.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $1,271.75.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,277.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger has a twelve month low of $906.52 and a twelve month high of $1,419.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,342.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,212.25.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.96 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 48.73%. The company's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.97 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. Research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 46.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 313 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,231.69, for a total value of $385,518.97. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 399 shares in the company, valued at $491,444.31. The trade was a 43.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total value of $1,795,446.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at $2,750,471.28. This represents a 39.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,624 shares of company stock worth $3,232,291. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in W.W. Grainger by 18.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 169.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,980,000 after buying an additional 2,407 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,388 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,051,000 after purchasing an additional 10,784 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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