W.W. Grainger (GWW) Competitors $962.94 +27.46 (+2.93%) As of 03:34 PM Eastern This is a fair market value price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock GWW vs. FAST, AME, GGG, HUBB, ITW, MSM, WSO, URI, WCC, and AITShould you be buying W.W. Grainger stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of W.W. Grainger include Fastenal (FAST), AMETEK (AME), Graco (GGG), Hubbell (HUBB), Illinois Tool Works (ITW), MSC Industrial Direct (MSM), Watsco (WSO), United Rentals (URI), WESCO International (WCC), and Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT). W.W. Grainger vs. Its Competitors Fastenal AMETEK Graco Hubbell Illinois Tool Works MSC Industrial Direct Watsco United Rentals WESCO International Applied Industrial Technologies Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) and W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) are both large-cap trading companies & distributors companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk. Does the media prefer FAST or GWW? In the previous week, Fastenal had 60 more articles in the media than W.W. Grainger. MarketBeat recorded 88 mentions for Fastenal and 28 mentions for W.W. Grainger. W.W. Grainger's average media sentiment score of 1.37 beat Fastenal's score of 0.94 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 39 Very Positive mention(s) 13 Positive mention(s) 20 Neutral mention(s) 4 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive W.W. Grainger 18 Very Positive mention(s) 2 Positive mention(s) 5 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Is FAST or GWW more profitable? Fastenal has a net margin of 15.30% compared to W.W. Grainger's net margin of 10.99%. W.W. Grainger's return on equity of 49.63% beat Fastenal's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Fastenal15.30% 32.33% 24.62% W.W. Grainger 10.99%49.63%21.63% Do analysts rate FAST or GWW? Fastenal currently has a consensus target price of $46.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.79%. W.W. Grainger has a consensus target price of $1,073.88, indicating a potential upside of 11.76%. Given W.W. Grainger's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe W.W. Grainger is more favorable than Fastenal.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Fastenal 1 Sell rating(s) 9 Hold rating(s) 4 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.33W.W. Grainger 2 Sell rating(s) 7 Hold rating(s) 3 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.23 Which has stronger earnings & 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. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioFastenal$7.55B6.56$1.15B$1.0441.48W.W. Grainger$17.17B2.68$1.91B$39.4124.38 Is FAST or GWW a better dividend stock? Fastenal pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $9.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Fastenal pays out 84.6% 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 22.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fastenal has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years and W.W. Grainger has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years. Which has more risk & volatility, FAST or GWW? Fastenal has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. SummaryW.W. Grainger beats Fastenal on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks. Get W.W. Grainger News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for GWW and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Subscribe Now View SMS TermsBy entering your phone number and clicking the sign-up button, you agree to receive periodic text messages from MarketBeat at the phone number you submitted, including texts that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. Messages will consist of stock alerts, news stories, and partner advertisements/offers. Consent is not a condition of the purchase of any goods or services. Text HELP for help/customer support. Unsubscribe at any time by replying "STOP" to any text message that you receive from MarketBeat or by visiting our mailing preferences page. Read our full terms of service and privacy policy. New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding GWW and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart GWW vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricW.W. GraingerIndustrial Services IndustryIndustrials SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$45.96B$18.28B$7.83B$21.92BDividend Yield0.95%2.30%4.60%3.67%P/E Ratio24.3821.56297.3929.93Price / Sales2.6815.701,288.5592.75Price / Cash21.3813.4027.8517.79Price / Book12.644.424.884.70Net Income$1.91B$646.47M$791.48M$1.01B7 Day Performance0.15%0.46%0.18%0.22%1 Month Performance-4.38%9.90%4.39%1.61%1 Year Performance-12.52%30.54%30.31%14.51% W.W. Grainger Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)GWWW.W. Grainger4.6687 of 5 stars$962.95+2.9%$1,073.88+11.5%-13.8%$46.06B$17.17B24.4426,000Positive NewsFASTFastenal4.6514 of 5 stars$47.78-0.2%$46.82-2.0%+10.2%$54.83B$7.55B45.9423,702Trending NewsEarnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionAMEAMETEK4.7042 of 5 stars$183.19-0.3%$205.00+11.9%+6.9%$42.31B$6.94B29.5021,500Positive NewsGGGGraco4.4636 of 5 stars$84.730.0%$94.50+11.5%-6.1%$14.04B$2.17B30.054,300Positive NewsHUBBHubbell4.1461 of 5 stars$413.16+0.0%$472.63+14.4%-8.4%$21.96B$5.63B26.8317,700Positive NewsAnalyst UpgradeITWIllinois Tool Works4.4236 of 5 stars$258.76-0.5%$261.58+1.1%-6.1%$75.43B$15.90B22.6844,000Positive NewsMSMMSC Industrial Direct3.2454 of 5 stars$92.05+0.1%$90.33-1.9%+3.0%$5.13B$3.82B26.007,423Dividend IncreaseWSOWatsco4.5345 of 5 stars$411.29-0.9%$480.00+16.7%-25.7%$16.68B$7.62B31.547,295Positive NewsURIUnited Rentals4.2876 of 5 stars$986.21+0.6%$941.00-4.6%+19.0%$63.45B$15.35B25.5027,900Positive NewsWCCWESCO International3.7436 of 5 stars$219.92+1.9%$232.67+5.8%+22.0%$10.70B$21.82B17.2220,000Gap DownAITApplied Industrial Technologies4.758 of 5 stars$259.36+0.4%$285.00+9.9%+9.2%$9.79B$4.56B25.636,800News Coverage Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Fastenal Alternatives AMETEK Alternatives Graco Alternatives Hubbell Alternatives Illinois Tool Works Alternatives MSC Industrial Direct Alternatives Watsco Alternatives United Rentals Alternatives WESCO International Alternatives Applied Industrial Technologies Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:GWW) was last updated on 10/14/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersNEW LAW: Congress Approves Setup For Digital Dollar?Trump Ally Says Congress Approved the Setup for a Digital Dollar 2.0 But according to Rep. Marjorie Taylor ...Goldco Precious Metals | SponsoredBlackRock’s Shocking Crypto MoveBlackRock, Fidelity, and JPMorgan have quietly shifted billions out of Bitcoin and into a single emerging cryp...Weiss Ratings | SponsoredURGENT: The Market's 3 Red Flags Are FlashingHere’s the uncomfortable truth: The smartest investors in the world are already preparing for a crash befor...StockEarnings | SponsoredYour Bank Account Is No Longer SafeWhat If Washington Declared That: YOUR Money ISN'T Actually Yours? Sounds insane, but that's exactly what ...Priority Gold | SponsoredBuy alert: Move $1,000 before Tesla’s Optimus launchElon's $1,000,000,000,000 payday Elon Musk just made his biggest insider purchase of Tesla stock ever. He's...Altimetry | SponsoredGold to $27,533?This week, U.S. gold reserves hit an unprecedented $1 TRILLION in value... And it's sparking urgent chatter...Stansberry Research | SponsoredTrump's Law S.1582: $21T Dollar Revolution ComingDo you have money in any of these banks? Chase. Bank of America. Citigroup. Wells Fargo. U.S. Bancorp. I...Brownstone Research | Sponsored2 Nobel Prize winners warn of once-in-a-generation wealth shift…An unstoppable force is reshaping America — one so powerful it’s already disrupting how we work, invest, and l...Porter & Company | Sponsored Adding Choose a watchlist: Watchlist Adding You have already added ten stocks to your watchlist. Upgrade to MarketBeat All Access to add more stocks to your watchlist. Adding W.W. Grainger, Inc. Please log in to your account or sign up in order to add this asset to your watchlist. Share W.W. Grainger With A Colleague Link copied to clipboard. Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Email Address Required Your Password: Password Required Log In or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Please enter your email address. Please enter a valid email address Choose a Password: Please enter your password. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 number, 1 letter, and 1 special character. Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
