FY2026 Earnings Forecast for W.W. Grainger Issued By KeyCorp

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) – Stock analysts at KeyCorp raised their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of W.W. Grainger in a report issued on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp analyst K. Newman now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $45.55 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $43.34. The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger’s current full-year earnings is $45.40 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for W.W. Grainger’s Q1 2027 earnings at $12.71 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on GWW. Stephens boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,300.00 to $1,355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,047.00 to $1,171.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on W.W. Grainger from $1,100.00 to $1,165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on W.W. Grainger from $1,052.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,199.13.

W.W. Grainger Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE GWW opened at $1,282.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $60.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.04. W.W. Grainger has a 52 week low of $906.52 and a 52 week high of $1,286.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,133.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,068.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $11.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. W.W. Grainger had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 47.87%. W.W. Grainger’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.86 EPS. W.W. Grainger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 44.250-46.250 EPS.

Institutional Trading of W.W. Grainger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Miller Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 211.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 28 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W.W. Grainger during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of W.W. Grainger by 314.3% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jonny M. Leroy sold 854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,231.06, for a total transaction of $1,051,325.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,067.24. The trade was a 35.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deidra C. Merriwether sold 1,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,114.28, for a total value of $1,658,048.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,745,625.48. The trade was a 12.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,451 shares of company stock valued at $7,380,743. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.W. Grainger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $2.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $9.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from W.W. Grainger’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.26. W.W. Grainger’s payout ratio is currently 26.79%.

W.W. Grainger News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting W.W. Grainger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised several earnings estimates for W.W. Grainger, including Q2 2026, Q3 2026, Q4 2026, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, and FY2027, reflecting improved expectations for future profitability.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s recent quarterly results beat Wall Street forecasts, and management increased full-year sales guidance, reinforcing the view that business demand remains solid.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also digesting post-earnings commentary, with analysts focusing on the company’s margin trends, demand outlook, and guidance sustainability. WW Grainger’s Q1 earnings call: Our top 5 analyst questions
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales by several executives, including VP Paige K. Robbins, SVP Jonny M. Leroy, and VP Laurie R. Thomson, may create some caution for investors even though the transactions were disclosed and could reflect routine portfolio activity.

About W.W. Grainger

W.W. Grainger, Inc (NYSE: GWW) is an industrial supply distributor founded in 1927 and headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company supplies maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services to businesses, institutions and government customers. Over its long history Grainger has developed a broad product assortment and a national distribution network that supports operations across a range of end markets, including manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and public sector organizations.

Grainger’s product portfolio spans core categories such as electrical and lighting, safety and personal protective equipment, material handling, motors and power transmission, plumbing and HVAC, fasteners and adhesives, hand and power tools, and janitorial and facility supplies.