W.W. Grainger (GWW) Competitors

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)	2.17
Fastenal	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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W.W. Grainger	$17.24B	2.93	$1.91B	$38.95	27.00
Fastenal	$7.77B	7.08	$1.15B	$1.04	46.09

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. Grainger	11.08%	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.

Summary

W.W. Grainger beats Fastenal on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.