W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $9.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger updated its FY24 guidance to $38.00-40.50 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 38.000-40.500 EPS.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 2.0 %

GWW opened at $929.26 on Friday. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $641.95 and a fifty-two week high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of $979.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $875.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GWW. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $913.89.

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.