W.W. Grainger (GWW) Competitors

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) and W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) are both large-cap construction companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations and community ranking.

Do analysts rate URI or GWW?

United Rentals currently has a consensus price target of $744.31, suggesting a potential upside of 4.23%. W.W. Grainger has a consensus price target of $1,120.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.60%. Given United Rentals' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe United Rentals is more favorable than W.W. Grainger.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Rentals	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
W.W. Grainger	2 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.15

Which has more volatility & risk, URI or GWW?

United Rentals has a beta of 1.7, indicating that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.24, indicating that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings and valuation, URI or GWW?

United Rentals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than W.W. Grainger. United Rentals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.W. Grainger, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Rentals	$15.58B	2.98	$2.58B	$38.62	18.49
W.W. Grainger	$17.24B	3.04	$1.91B	$38.95	28.03

Is URI or GWW more profitable?

United Rentals has a net margin of 16.78% compared to W.W. Grainger's net margin of 11.12%. W.W. Grainger's return on equity of 52.43% beat United Rentals' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Rentals	16.78%	34.21%	10.37%
W.W. Grainger	11.12%	52.43%	22.15%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in URI or GWW?

United Rentals received 226 more outperform votes than W.W. Grainger when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.90% of users gave United Rentals an outperform vote while only 53.31% of users gave W.W. Grainger an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
United Rentals	Outperform Votes 773 64.90%	Underperform Votes 418 35.10%
W.W. Grainger	Outperform Votes 547 53.31%	Underperform Votes 479 46.69%

Is URI or GWW a better dividend stock?

United Rentals pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $9.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. United Rentals pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. W.W. Grainger pays out 23.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. United Rentals has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and W.W. Grainger has increased its dividend for 55 consecutive years. United Rentals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor URI or GWW?

In the previous week, United Rentals had 10 more articles in the media than W.W. Grainger. MarketBeat recorded 38 mentions for United Rentals and 28 mentions for W.W. Grainger. United Rentals' average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat W.W. Grainger's score of 1.23 indicating that United Rentals is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
United Rentals	25 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
W.W. Grainger	20 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in URI or GWW?

96.3% of United Rentals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of W.W. Grainger shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of United Rentals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of W.W. Grainger shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

United Rentals beats W.W. Grainger on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.