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 investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation.

Is GWW or FAST 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
W.W. Grainger	10.99%	49.63%	21.63%
Fastenal	15.30%	32.33%	24.62%

Which has more risk and volatility, GWW or FAST?

W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fastenal has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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 22.9% 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 stronger earnings & valuation, 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	$17.17B	2.72	$1.91B	$39.41	24.76
Fastenal	$7.55B	7.41	$1.15B	$1.04	46.82

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in GWW or FAST?

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

Do analysts rate GWW or FAST?

W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus price target of $1,080.38, indicating a potential upside of 10.72%. Fastenal has a consensus price target of $46.36, indicating a potential downside of 4.78%. Given W.W. Grainger's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly 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)	7 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.38

Does the media favor GWW or FAST?

In the previous week, Fastenal had 10 more articles in the media than W.W. Grainger. MarketBeat recorded 43 mentions for Fastenal and 33 mentions for W.W. Grainger. W.W. Grainger's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Fastenal's score of 1.22 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	29 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Fastenal	30 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

W.W. Grainger beats Fastenal on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.