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

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 38.650-39.350 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 38.610. The company issued revenue guidance of $17.1 billion-$17.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $17.2 billion. W.W. Grainger also updated its FY24 guidance to $38.65-39.35 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GWW. Oppenheimer lowered W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $925.00 target price for the company. Baird R W raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of W.W. Grainger in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,043.20.

W.W. Grainger Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GWW traded up $5.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1,105.00. 141,530 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 233,261. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $54.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,030.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $969.76. W.W. Grainger has a one year low of $721.99 and a one year high of $1,129.92.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.58 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 53.25% and a net margin of 10.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.28 EPS. On average, analysts predict that W.W. Grainger will post 38.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at $102,281,004.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 12,992 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 98,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,281,004.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald G. Macpherson sold 27,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,000.82, for a total transaction of $27,524,551.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,650,478.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.