W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 56.54%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.61 earnings per share. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.W. Grainger updated its FY24 guidance to $38.00-40.50 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 38.000-40.500 EPS.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.0 %

W.W. Grainger stock traded down $18.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $929.26. 347,735 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 234,797. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. W.W. Grainger has a 12 month low of $641.95 and a 12 month high of $1,034.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $980.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $872.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $950.22, for a total transaction of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,664,629.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GWW shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $775.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $740.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $913.89.

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.