Fastenal (FAST) Competitors $74.78 -0.36 (-0.48%) Closing price 02/21/2025 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$75.00 +0.22 (+0.30%) As of 02/21/2025 06:34 PM 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 InterestSustainabilityTrends FAST vs. GWW, URI, WSO, AIT, WCC, BECN, GATX, AL, RUSHA, and MSMShould you be buying Fastenal stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Fastenal include W.W. Grainger (GWW), United Rentals (URI), Watsco (WSO), Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT), WESCO International (WCC), Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN), GATX (GATX), Air Lease (AL), Rush Enterprises (RUSHA), and MSC Industrial Direct (MSM). These companies are all part of the "trading companies & distributors" industry. Fastenal vs. W.W. Grainger United Rentals Watsco Applied Industrial Technologies WESCO International Beacon Roofing Supply GATX Air Lease Rush Enterprises MSC Industrial Direct W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) and Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) are both large-cap industrial products companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, risk, community ranking, analyst recommendations and dividends. Is GWW or FAST a better dividend stock? W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $8.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Fastenal pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. W.W. Grainger pays out 21.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fastenal pays out 85.6% 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 54 consecutive years and Fastenal has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years. Does the media refer more to GWW or FAST? In the previous week, W.W. Grainger had 4 more articles in the media than Fastenal. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for W.W. Grainger and 22 mentions for Fastenal. Fastenal's average media sentiment score of 1.49 beat W.W. Grainger's score of 1.35 indicating that Fastenal is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment W.W. Grainger 21 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 4 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Fastenal 20 Very Positive mention(s) 2 Positive mention(s) 0 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Does the MarketBeat Community believe in GWW or FAST? W.W. Grainger received 125 more outperform votes than Fastenal when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 53.70% of users gave Fastenal an outperform vote while only 53.37% of users gave W.W. Grainger an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformW.W. GraingerOutperform Votes54653.37% Underperform Votes47746.63% FastenalOutperform Votes42153.70% Underperform Votes36346.30% Which has more volatility & risk, GWW or FAST? W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fastenal has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Do analysts rate GWW or FAST? W.W. Grainger presently has a consensus target price of $1,148.56, suggesting a potential upside of 13.94%. Fastenal has a consensus target price of $76.91, suggesting a potential upside of 2.85%. Given W.W. Grainger's stronger consensus rating and 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 W.W. Grainger 1 Sell rating(s) 9 Hold rating(s) 2 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.23Fastenal 2 Sell rating(s) 8 Hold rating(s) 1 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 1.91 Do insiders & institutionals 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. 9.5% 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. Which has stronger earnings and 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. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioW.W. Grainger$17.17B2.86$1.91B$38.7126.04Fastenal$7.55B5.68$1.15B$2.0137.20 Is GWW or FAST more profitable? Fastenal has a net margin of 15.25% compared to W.W. Grainger's net margin of 11.12%. W.W. Grainger's return on equity of 52.43% beat Fastenal's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets W.W. Grainger11.12% 52.43% 22.15% Fastenal 15.25%32.55%24.78% SummaryW.W. Grainger beats Fastenal on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Fastenal News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for FAST 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 {thisCompany.Symbol} 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 NASDAQ 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 FAST vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricFastenalBuilding materials, hardware, garden supply & mobile home dealers IndustryRetail SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$42.88B$47.79B$25.90B$8.98BDividend Yield2.28%1.94%172.57%3.85%P/E Ratio37.2044.9423.0918.82Price / Sales5.682.813.7380.76Price / Cash32.6820.7721.2137.47Price / Book11.8514.925.834.64Net Income$1.15B$645.45M$770.12M$245.69M7 Day PerformanceN/A-3.52%-3.05%-2.63%1 Month Performance-1.72%-5.36%-1.23%-2.37%1 Year Performance6.33%-13.16%8.53%13.65% Fastenal Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)FASTFastenal3.9599 of 5 stars$74.78-0.5%$76.91+2.8%+6.3%$42.88B$7.55B37.2023,702Positive NewsGWWW.W. Grainger4.2423 of 5 stars$1,027.680.0%$1,148.56+11.8%+7.1%$50.05B$17.17B26.5526,000Positive NewsURIUnited Rentals4.8948 of 5 stars$741.10+1.6%$814.08+9.8%+1.8%$48.40B$15.35B19.1327,900Analyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionPositive NewsWSOWatsco3.7197 of 5 stars$485.21+1.8%$488.33+0.6%+31.1%$19.59B$7.28B37.507,425Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionPositive NewsHigh Trading VolumeAITApplied Industrial Technologies4.4552 of 5 stars$265.11+0.7%$291.43+9.9%+31.9%$10.17B$4.48B26.866,500Analyst RevisionNews CoverageWCCWESCO International3.6827 of 5 stars$196.84+1.6%$217.63+10.6%+28.4%$9.65B$22.39B15.7620,000Analyst ForecastBECNBeacon Roofing Supply3.3837 of 5 stars$119.30+0.1%$120.17+0.7%+36.8%$7.38B$9.12B20.398,063Upcoming EarningsAnalyst ForecastGATXGATX2.4358 of 5 stars$164.99-0.2%$161.00-2.4%+27.2%$5.86B$1.59B21.232,020ALAir Lease4.7184 of 5 stars$49.46+6.7%$57.60+16.5%+19.6%$5.51B$2.68B11.27150Analyst ForecastGap UpRUSHARush Enterprises4.6675 of 5 stars$60.47+1.6%$69.00+14.1%+22.4%$4.78B$7.93B16.047,860Earnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastInsider TradeNews CoverageMSMMSC Industrial Direct3.2835 of 5 stars$81.42-0.7%$83.80+2.9%-19.4%$4.55B$3.82B19.437,423 Related Companies and Tools Related Companies W.W. Grainger Competitors United Rentals Competitors Watsco Competitors Applied Industrial Technologies Competitors WESCO International Competitors Beacon Roofing Supply Competitors GATX Competitors Air Lease Competitors Rush Enterprises Competitors MSC Industrial Direct Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Bank Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Toy Stocks Growth Stocks Airline Stocks Chinese Stocks EV Charging Stocks Defense Stocks Lithium Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks This page (NASDAQ:FAST) was last updated on 2/22/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersSecret financial plot unfolding in Washington DC… [DEVELOPING]What stocks are next up to soar in 2025? I believe I’ve found the answer - and it might surprise you. 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