Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GWW. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of W.W. Grainger by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 169.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,980,000 after buying an additional 2,407 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in W.W. Grainger by 35.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,051,000 after buying an additional 10,784 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.W. Grainger Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of GWW stock opened at $1,319.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a one year low of $906.52 and a one year high of $1,419.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,345.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,224.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.30 by $0.71. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 48.73%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.97 EPS. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 45.500-47.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that W.W. Grainger, Inc. will post 46.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $2.49 dividend. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,350.00 to $1,375.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,166.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stephens lowered W.W. Grainger from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $1,355.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,190.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,274.12.

W.W. Grainger Company 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.