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

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 38.650-39.350 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 38.610. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.1 billion-$17.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.2 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY24 guidance to $38.65-39.35 EPS.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.4 %

W.W. Grainger stock traded down $4.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,105.07. The company had a trading volume of 248,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,030. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $747.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,130.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1,035.68 and its 200-day moving average is $971.79.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 51.78%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.43 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 38.69 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GWW. Wolfe Research upgraded W.W. Grainger to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital raised their price target on W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,058.50.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other W.W. Grainger news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at $111,650,478.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at $102,281,004.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.