William Blair Raises Earnings Estimates for W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) – William Blair upped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of W.W. Grainger in a report issued on Monday, March 10th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the industrial products company will earn $45.27 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $45.12. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $40.30 per share.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.75 by ($0.04). W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 52.43% and a net margin of 11.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.33 earnings per share.

GWW has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,113.00 to $1,112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $990.00 to $1,215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,151.50.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

GWW opened at $954.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,050.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,076.17. W.W. Grainger has a 12-month low of $874.98 and a 12-month high of $1,227.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.18.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,000. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 1,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 4,053.3% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 53,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,824,000 after buying an additional 52,612 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,901,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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.