GWW W.W. Grainger, Inc.

W.W. Grainger, Inc. operates as a supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products (MRO), with operations also in Europe, Asia and Latin America. It operates through two segments: United States and Canada. The United States segment offers a selection of MRO products and services through its eCommerce platforms, catalogs, branches and sales and service representatives. The Canada segment provides a combination of product breadth, local availability, speed of delivery, detailed product information and competitively priced products and services. The company was founded by William Wallace Grainger in 1927 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, IL.

Company profile

Ticker

GWW

Exchange

NYSE

Website

www.grainger.com

CEO

Donald G. Macpherson

Incorporated in

Illinois

Location

Illinois

Fiscal year end

Dec 31

Sector

Distribution Services > Wholesale Distributors

Industry (SEC)

Wholesale - Durable Goods

HD Supply • HD Supply • ADDvantage Technologies • School Specialty ...

Former names

Grainger W W Inc

SEC CIK

0000277135

Corporate docs

Articles of Incorporation & Bylaws

IRS number

361150280

GWW stock data

S&P 500

1M 1Y 2Y 5Y

Calendar

23 Apr 20

5 Jul 20

31 Dec 20

News

Company financial data Financial data

Chart GWW financial data

Quarter (USD)	Mar 20	Dec 19	Sep 19	Jun 19
Revenue	3B	2.85B	2.95B	2.89B
Net income	173M	103M	233M	260M
Diluted EPS	3.19	1.88	4.25	4.67
Net profit margin	5.76%	3.62%	7.91%	8.99%
Operating income	159M	181M	338M	380M
Net change in cash	1.13B	74M	-29M	-77M
Cash on hand	1.49B	360M	286M	315M
Cost of revenue	1.88B	1.77B	1.85B	1.77B

Annual (USD)	Dec 19	Dec 18	Dec 17	Dec 16
Revenue	11.49B	11.22B	10.43B	10.14B
Net income	849M	782M	586M	606M
Diluted EPS	15.32	13.73	10.02	9.87
Net profit margin	7.39%	6.97%	5.62%	5.98%
Operating income	1.26B	1.16B	1.04B	1.11B
Net change in cash	-178M	211M	53M	-16M
Cash on hand	360M	538M	327M	274M
Cost of revenue	7.09B	6.87B	6.33B	6.02B

Financial data from company earnings reports

Recent insider trades

GWW insider ownership history Insider history

Date	Owner	Security	Transaction	Code	10b5-1	$Price	#Shares	$Value	#Remaining
1 Jun 20	V Ann Hailey	Deferred Stock Units Common Stock	Grant	Aquire A	No	309.62	63	19.51K	13,510
1 Jun 20	Brian P Anderson	Deferred Stock Units Common Stock	Grant	Aquire A	No	309.62	91	28.18K	19,592
1 Jun 20	Rodney C Adkins	Deferred Stock Units Common Stock	Grant	Aquire A	No	309.62	21	6.5K	4,364
1 Jun 20	Neil S Novich	Deferred Stock Units Common Stock	Grant	Aquire A	No	309.62	135	41.8K	29,179
1 Jun 20	Stuart L Levenick	Deferred Stock Units Common Stock	Grant	Aquire A	No	309.62	93	28.79K	20,107

Data from 3, 4 and 5 filings. Stock values as filed, not updated for current price.

Institutional ownership Q1 2020

GWW institutional ownership history Ownership history

70.4% owned by funds/institutions

13F holders	Current	Prev Q	Change
Total holders	626	692	-9.5%
Opened positions	58	118	-50.8%
Closed positions	124	47	+163.8%
Increased positions	202	196	+3.1%
Reduced positions	242	231	+4.8%

13F shares	Current	Prev Q	Change
Total value	162.41B	174.87B	-7.1%
Total shares	37.65M	38.92M	-3.3%
Total puts	398.3K	548.6K	-27.4%
Total calls	292.9K	571K	-48.7%
Total put/call ratio	1.4	1.0	+41.5%

Largest owners	Shares	Value	Change
Vanguard	5.94M	$1.48B	+1.2%
Longview Partners	4.08M	$1.01B	-0.6%
BLK BlackRock	3.25M	$807.08M	+2.0%
STT State Street	2.35M	$583.65M	-5.5%
Clearbridge Advisors	2.01M	$499.08M	-13.8%
NTRS Northern Trust	1.14M	$282.88M	-0.4%
Geode Capital Management	789.28K	$195.8M	+2.6%
BAC Bank of America	731.67K	$181.82M	-3.6%
Nuveen Asset Management	725.61K	$180.32M	-2.8%
BK Bank Of New York Mellon	710.26K	$176.5M	+10.8%

Largest transactions	Shares	Bought/sold	Change
Norges Bank	0	-502.87K	EXIT
Alyeska Investment	1.75K	-333.56K	-99.5%
Clearbridge Advisors	2.01M	-320.48K	-13.8%
Eagle Asset Management	445.01K	+259.08K	+139.3%
Citadel Advisors	530.61K	+228.42K	+75.6%
Millennium Management	1.48K	-218.73K	-99.3%
IVZ Invesco	293.73K	-215.16K	-42.3%
MKFCF Mackenzie Financial	641.22K	-196.17K	-23.4%
First Trust Advisors	188.83K	+169.1K	+857.4%
Two Sigma Investments	28.5K	-163.14K	-85.1%

Data from 13F filings. Stock values as filed, not updated for current price. Long positions only.

Financial report summary

Risks

Weakness in the economy, market trends and other conditions affecting the profitability and financial stability of Grainger's customers could negatively impact Grainger's sales growth and results of operations.
The facilities maintenance industry is highly competitive, and changes in competition could result in decreased demand for Grainger's products and services.
Volatility in commodity prices may adversely affect gross margins.
Unexpected product shortages, tariffs, and risks associated with Grainger's suppliers could negatively impact customer relationships or result in an adverse impact on results of operations.
Changes in customer base or product mix could cause changes in Grainger's gross margin or affect Grainger's competitive position.
Disruptions in Grainger's supply chain could result in an adverse impact on results of operations.
Interruptions in the proper functioning of information systems could disrupt operations and cause unanticipated increases in costs and/or decreases in revenues.
Cybersecurity incidents, including breaches of information systems security, could damage Grainger's reputation, disrupt operations, increase costs and/or decrease revenues.
Grainger's ability to adequately protect its intellectual property or successfully defend against infringement claims by others may have an adverse impact on operations.
Fluctuations in foreign currency could have an effect on reported results of operations.
An inability to successfully implement Grainger’s strategy or to integrate acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures and other business combination transactions could result in the benefits anticipated not being realized and could have an adverse effect on results of operations.
In order to compete, Grainger must attract, retain and motivate key employees, and the failure to do so could have an adverse effect on results of operations.
Grainger’s continued success is substantially dependent on positive perceptions of Grainger’s reputation.
Grainger is subject to various domestic and foreign laws, regulations and standards. Failure to comply or unforeseen developments in related contingencies such as litigation could adversely affect Grainger's financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Grainger is subject to a number of rules and regulations related to its government contracts, which may result in increased compliance costs and potential liabilities.
In conducting its business Grainger may become subject to legal proceedings or governmental investigations, including in connection with product liability or product compliance claims if people, property or the environment are harmed by Grainger’s products or services.
Tax changes could affect Grainger's effective tax rate and future profitability.
Grainger's common stock may be subject to volatility or price declines.

Management Discussion

Grainger's net sales of $11,486 million for the year ended 2019 increased $265 million, or 2.5%, compared to the same period in 2018. The increase in net sales was primarily driven by volume increases in the U.S. business from market share gain and continued double-digit growth in the endless assortments businesses, partially offset by lower sales in the Canada business and other businesses. See Note 14 to the Financial Statements and refer to the Segment Analysis below for further details.
Gross profit of $4,397 million for the year ended 2019 increased $49 million, or 1% compared with the same period in 2018. The gross profit margin of 38.3% decreased 0.5 percentage points when compared to the same period in 2018, primarily driven by the lower margin endless assortment businesses which are growing at a faster rate than the rest of the Company. Elsewhere, lower gross profit margins in the U.S. were offset by supply chain favorability in Canada.
The tables below reconcile reported Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A), operating earnings, net earnings attributable to W.W. Grainger, Inc. and diluted earnings per share, determined in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States of America to adjusted SG&A, operating earnings, net earnings attributable to W.W. Grainger, Inc. and diluted earnings per share, which are all considered non-GAAP measures. The Company believes that these non-GAAP measures provide meaningful information to assist shareholders in understanding financial results and assessing prospects for future performance as they provide a better baseline for analyzing the ongoing performance of its businesses by excluding items that may not be indicative of core operating results. Because non-GAAP financial measures are not standardized, it may not be possible to compare these measures with other companies' non-GAAP measures having the same or similar names. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for reported results. These non-GAAP measures reflect an additional way of viewing aspects of operations that, when viewed with GAAP results, provide a more complete understanding of the business. All tables below are in millions of dollars:

Content analysis ?

Positive
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Legalese
Litigous
Readability	8th grade Avg

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From filing 10-Q 2020 Q1