W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $38.65-39.35 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.70. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.1-17.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.20 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 38.650-39.350 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GWW. Oppenheimer lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,000.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $990.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,058.50.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE GWW traded down $4.16 on Friday, reaching $1,105.07. 248,255 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 234,978. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,035.68 and a 200 day moving average of $971.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $747.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,130.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.16.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 53.25% and a net margin of 10.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 38.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total transaction of $13,481,538.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total value of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,037.68, for a total value of $13,481,538.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at $102,281,004.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

About W.W. Grainger

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.