Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Acquires New Shares in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA acquired a new position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,290,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GWW. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 0.3% during the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,415,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GWW shares. Weiss Ratings raised W.W. Grainger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Oppenheimer increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on W.W. Grainger in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,071.38.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

Shares of W.W. Grainger stock opened at $1,106.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $52.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,097.41 and its 200 day moving average is $1,019.60. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $893.99 and a one year high of $1,218.63.

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

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $2.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $9.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 25.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Krantz Nancy L. Berardinelli sold 195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,023.93, for a total value of $199,666.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,249,953.82. This represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.W. Grainger Profile

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.