W.W. Grainger (GWW) Competitors

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) and W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) are both large-cap trading companies & distributors companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend FAST or GWW?

Fastenal presently has a consensus price target of $48.80, indicating a potential upside of 14.05%. W.W. Grainger has a consensus price target of $1,123.13, indicating a potential upside of 6.91%. Given Fastenal's higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Fastenal is more favorable than W.W. Grainger.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fastenal	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.09
W.W. Grainger	2 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17

Does the media prefer FAST or GWW?

In the previous week, W.W. Grainger had 16 more articles in the media than Fastenal. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for W.W. Grainger and 5 mentions for Fastenal. W.W. Grainger's average media sentiment score of 1.49 beat Fastenal's score of 0.34 indicating that W.W. Grainger is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Fastenal	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
W.W. Grainger	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FAST or GWW a better dividend stock?

Fastenal pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $9.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Fastenal pays out 88.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. W.W. Grainger pays out 23.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fastenal has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years and W.W. Grainger has increased its dividend for 55 consecutive years.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in FAST or GWW?

81.4% of Fastenal shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Fastenal shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, FAST or GWW?

Fastenal has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FAST or GWW more profitable?

Fastenal has a net margin of 15.13% compared to W.W. Grainger's net margin of 11.08%. W.W. Grainger's return on equity of 51.28% beat Fastenal's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fastenal	15.13%	31.99%	24.36%
W.W. Grainger	11.08%	51.28%	22.00%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, FAST or GWW?

W.W. Grainger has higher revenue and earnings than Fastenal. W.W. Grainger is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fastenal, 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
Fastenal	$7.55B	6.51	$1.15B	$1.00	42.79
W.W. Grainger	$17.17B	2.94	$1.91B	$38.95	26.97

Summary

W.W. Grainger beats Fastenal on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.