W.W. Grainger (GWW) Competitors $1,051.69 +6.93 (+0.66%) Closing price 07/24/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$1,051.57 -0.12 (-0.01%) As of 08:02 AM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours 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 W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) and Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) 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 dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability. Do analysts prefer GWW or FAST? W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus target price of $1,116.25, suggesting a potential upside of 6.14%. Fastenal has a consensus target price of $45.64, suggesting a potential downside of 4.79%. Given W.W. Grainger's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe W.W. Grainger is more favorable than Fastenal.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score W.W. Grainger 2 Sell rating(s) 7 Hold rating(s) 2 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.17Fastenal 1 Sell rating(s) 8 Hold rating(s) 3 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.17 Is GWW or FAST a better dividend stock? W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $9.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Fastenal pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. W.W. Grainger pays out 23.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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 has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years and Fastenal has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years. Which has more volatility & risk, GWW or FAST? W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fastenal has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Does the media prefer GWW or FAST? In the previous week, W.W. Grainger and W.W. Grainger both had 14 articles in the media. W.W. Grainger's average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat Fastenal's score of 0.98 indicating that W.W. Grainger is being referred to more favorably in the media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment W.W. Grainger 12 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 1 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Fastenal 10 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 2 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Which has preferable valuation and earnings, GWW or FAST? 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 RatioW.W. Grainger$17.24B2.93$1.91B$38.9527.00Fastenal$7.77B7.08$1.15B$1.0446.09 Is GWW or FAST more profitable? Fastenal has a net margin of 15.30% 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 W.W. Grainger11.08% 51.28% 22.00% Fastenal 15.30%32.33%24.62% Do institutionals and insiders believe in GWW or FAST? 80.7% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.4% of Fastenal shares are held by institutional investors. 6.1% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Fastenal shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. SummaryW.W. Grainger beats Fastenal on 11 of the 18 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. Email Address 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$50.19B$17.47B$7.72B$21.14BDividend Yield0.87%2.29%4.55%3.58%P/E Ratio27.0021.1125.5727.76Price / Sales2.935.82101.3358.38Price / Cash23.5813.2527.9723.00Price / Book13.834.314.484.67Net Income$1.91B$608.64M$795.63M$993.85M7 Day Performance2.42%4.59%1.15%1.48%1 Month Performance2.67%11.29%6.50%5.79%1 Year Performance10.22%11.93%32.13%11.41% W.W. Grainger Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)GWWW.W. Grainger3.3816 of 5 stars$1,051.69+0.7%$1,116.25+6.1%+12.8%$50.19B$17.24B27.0026,000Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsFASTFastenal4.3385 of 5 stars$46.02-0.1%$45.64-0.8%+42.4%$52.81B$7.55B44.2523,702AMEAMETEK4.2598 of 5 stars$178.05-0.3%$197.30+10.8%+7.6%$41.11B$6.94B29.1421,500Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsGGGGraco4.011 of 5 stars$86.25-0.3%$93.00+7.8%+4.7%$14.42B$2.15B30.484,300Trending NewsEarnings ReportGap DownHUBBHubbell2.3824 of 5 stars$422.03-1.9%$456.25+8.1%+22.6%$22.52B$5.63B28.5517,700Upcoming EarningsITWIllinois Tool Works4.5242 of 5 stars$254.59-0.2%$255.67+0.4%+9.5%$74.60B$15.90B22.3944,000Positive NewsUpcoming EarningsMSMMSC Industrial Direct4.0089 of 5 stars$85.97-1.7%$90.33+5.1%+6.3%$4.79B$3.82B24.287,423Positive NewsWSOWatsco3.1212 of 5 stars$469.05-0.4%$484.17+3.2%+1.0%$19.00B$7.62B36.057,295Upcoming EarningsURIUnited Rentals4.3353 of 5 stars$778.38-3.7%$772.77-0.7%+22.1%$50.59B$15.35B20.1527,900Trending NewsEarnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastGap UpWCCWESCO International4.1991 of 5 stars$203.52-1.1%$210.75+3.6%+28.7%$9.93B$21.82B15.3920,000Upcoming EarningsAITApplied Industrial Technologies4.1143 of 5 stars$259.98-0.3%$285.00+9.6%+31.0%$9.90B$4.48B26.106,500Positive News 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 7/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersINVESTOR ALERT: Tiny “$3 AI Wonder Stock” on the Verge of Blasting OffRight now, we’re witnessing a monumental shift in the world.Traders Agency | SponsoredGoogle did what!?!?A new technology has sparked a modern-day gold rush in Silicon Valley. 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