W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of $38.00-40.50 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $39.46. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.2-17.7 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.48 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 38.000-40.500 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GWW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Stephens boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.0 %

GWW stock traded down $18.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $929.26. 357,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 211,078. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $979.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $873.99. W.W. Grainger has a 52-week low of $641.95 and a 52-week high of $1,034.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 54.31% and a net margin of 10.94%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors 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 (DPR) is currently 20.54%.

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was 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 $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About W.W. Grainger

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.