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

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $38.00-40.50 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $39.46. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.2-17.7 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.48 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 38.000-40.500 EPS.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GWW traded down $18.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $929.26. The stock had a trading volume of 357,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,078. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $979.95 and its 200 day moving average is $873.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.19. W.W. Grainger has a 52 week low of $641.95 and a 52 week high of $1,034.18. The stock has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 54.31%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $9.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital lowered shares of W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating and raised their price objective for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $913.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.W. Grainger

In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other W.W. Grainger news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,122 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total transaction of $3,694,339.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,231.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

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.