Palisade Capital Management LP Takes $597,000 Position in W.W. Grainger, Inc. $GWW

Palisade Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 439 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GWW. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,303,024,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in W.W. Grainger by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,019,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,037,728,000 after acquiring an additional 23,399 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,230,214,000 after acquiring an additional 10,533 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 1,462.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,081,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of W.W. Grainger by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,027,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,036,584,000 after purchasing an additional 389,589 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE:GWW opened at $1,337.59 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger, Inc. has a 12 month low of $906.52 and a 12 month high of $1,419.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,345.00 and its 200 day moving average is $1,233.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $12.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.30 by $0.71. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 48.73% and a net margin of 9.92%.The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 46.1 earnings per share for the current year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $2.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $9.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,250.00 to $1,260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,166.00 to $1,185.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,286.62.

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.