W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of 38.000-40.500 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 39.360. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.2 billion-$17.7 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.5 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY24 guidance to $38.00-40.50 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GWW. StockNews.com lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE GWW traded down $18.58 on Friday, hitting $929.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 357,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,078. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. W.W. Grainger has a 1-year low of $641.95 and a 1-year high of $1,034.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $979.95 and its 200 day moving average is $873.99. The firm has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $2.05 dividend. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is 20.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the transaction, 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. Corporate insiders own 9.50% 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.