Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Sells 4,187 Shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) by 22.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,187 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in W.W. Grainger were worth $13,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.3% in the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,415,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.8% in the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 4.5% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 6.0% in the third quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in W.W. Grainger by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 3,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,772,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GWW. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,044.00 to $1,047.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.W. Grainger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,080.38.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,043.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.59. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 1 year low of $893.99 and a 1 year high of $1,218.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,104.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,022.20.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $9.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.46 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 47.46%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.71 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.250-44.750 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 40.3 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $2.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.54%.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.