W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of 38.000-40.500 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 39.360. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.2 billion-$17.7 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.5 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY24 guidance to $38.00-40.50 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GWW has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on W.W. Grainger from $800.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $809.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Loop Capital downgraded W.W. Grainger from a buy rating to a hold rating and boosted their price target for the company from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.W. Grainger currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $913.89.

W.W. Grainger Price Performance

NYSE:GWW traded down $19.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $928.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 357,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,833. W.W. Grainger has a twelve month low of $641.95 and a twelve month high of $1,034.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $979.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $873.99. The company has a market capitalization of $45.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.14.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $9.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 56.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.61 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that W.W. Grainger will post 39.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at W.W. Grainger

In other news, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,756,231.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, 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 value of $2,966,586.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,664,629.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paige K. Robbins sold 3,813 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $968.88, for a total value of $3,694,339.44. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,909 shares of the company’s stock, 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.