W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) to Post Q4 2024 Earnings of $9.20 Per Share, Zacks Research Forecasts

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for W.W. Grainger in a research note issued to investors on Friday, April 19th. Zacks Research analyst S. Deb now anticipates that the industrial products company will earn $9.20 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $9.19. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $39.26 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for W.W. Grainger’s Q1 2025 earnings at $10.18 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $10.80 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $10.60 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $10.51 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $42.09 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $11.03 EPS.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $8.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.05 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 56.54%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 16th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $942.65 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $979.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $868.07. The company has a market cap of $46.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.14. 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 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.88.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 20.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now 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 link. In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now 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 link. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,396,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,451,000 after purchasing an additional 204,507 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,074,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $846,989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,744 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,027,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $706,047,000 after purchasing an additional 100,380 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 978,154 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $810,586,000 after purchasing an additional 12,445 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 751,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $520,163,000 after purchasing an additional 13,063 shares during the period. 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.