William Blair Forecasts Lower Earnings for W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) – William Blair cut their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for shares of W.W. Grainger in a report released on Thursday, May 1st. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings per share of $10.02 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $10.40. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $40.30 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for W.W. Grainger’s Q3 2025 earnings at $10.63 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $11.92 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $45.39 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $50.63 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on GWW. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on W.W. Grainger from $1,097.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,125.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of W.W. Grainger from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $966.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,120.00.

W.W. Grainger Trading Down 2.1 %

GWW opened at $1,043.10 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $990.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,067.11. W.W. Grainger has a fifty-two week low of $874.98 and a fifty-two week high of $1,227.66. The company has a market cap of $50.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $9.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.51 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 52.43%. W.W. Grainger’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.62 earnings per share.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $2.26 dividend. This represents a $9.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. W.W. Grainger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.W. Grainger news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,164 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $997.12, for a total transaction of $1,160,647.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,205,523.20. The trade was a 10.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.W. Grainger

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GWW. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in W.W. Grainger by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 33 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of W.W. Grainger in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.