W.W. Grainger (GWW) Expected to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Friday

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) is projected to release its earnings data before the market opens on Friday, January 31st. Analysts expect W.W. Grainger to post earnings of $9.74 per share and revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter. Persons that are interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $9.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. W.W. Grainger had a return on equity of 51.78% and a net margin of 10.80%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.43 EPS. On average, analysts expect W.W. Grainger to post $39 EPS for the current fiscal year and $42 EPS for the next fiscal year.

W.W. Grainger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GWW opened at $1,113.89 on Thursday. W.W. Grainger has a 1 year low of $874.98 and a 1 year high of $1,227.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,122.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,063.45.

W.W. Grainger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is 22.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on GWW shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded W.W. Grainger from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $975.00 to $1,230.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Baird R W raised shares of W.W. Grainger from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of W.W. Grainger from $900.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer cut shares of W.W. Grainger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of W.W. Grainger from $1,018.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,140.56.

Insider Transactions at W.W. Grainger

In related news, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 704 shares of W.W. Grainger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,105.59, for a total value of $778,335.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,513,055.31. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Laurie R. Thomson sold 125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,206.03, for a total transaction of $150,753.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $814,070.25. This represents a 15.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,406 shares of company stock worth $11,634,643. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

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.