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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) from “hold” to “buy,” adding to a series of mostly mixed analyst views on the stock. Overall, MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of “Hold” with an average price target of $1,199.13.
• Grainger reported stronger-than-expected Q1 results, posting EPS of $11.65 versus estimates of $10.21 and revenue of $4.74 billion versus $4.58 billion expected. Revenue rose 10.1% year over year, and the company issued FY 2026 EPS guidance of 44.25 to 46.25.
• Insiders have recently been selling shares, including CFO Deidra C. Merriwether and VP Paige K. Robbins. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,451 shares worth about $7.38 million.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GWW. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,199.13.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,247.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $58.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,148.54 and a 200 day moving average of $1,079.40. W.W. Grainger has a 52 week low of $906.52 and a 52 week high of $1,286.56.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $10.21 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.70%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.86 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 45.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,745,625.48. This represents a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 1,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,232.29, for a total value of $1,795,446.53. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,750,471.28. This represents a 39.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GWW. Miller Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 314.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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