William Blair analyst Ryan Merkel has maintained their bullish stance on GWW stock, giving a Buy rating on September 17.
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Ryan Merkel has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors that emerged from a recent visit to Grainger’s headquarters. Despite a cautious outlook on the market and overall volumes, the management expressed confidence in their ability to achieve consistent growth and leverage in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Key insights include increased customer interest in Keepstock and inventory management services, and a forecasted price increase of 2%-3% by 2026. Although there are concerns about third-quarter gross margins and volume recovery, Merkel anticipates a rebound in gross margins by the fourth quarter. Additionally, the normalization of gross margins in 2026 without the LIFO headwind and the long-term benefits of AI and machine learning are expected to enhance leverage and market share.
In another report released on September 17, TR | OpenAI – 4o also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $1,093.00 price target.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 29 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of GWW in relation to earlier this year.