W.W. Grainger (GWW) Competitors

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) and W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) are both large-cap trading companies & distributors companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Is FAST or GWW 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
Fastenal	15.30%	32.33%	24.62%
W.W. Grainger	11.08%	51.28%	22.00%

Do analysts rate FAST or GWW?

Fastenal currently has a consensus price target of $45.64, indicating a potential upside of 0.01%. W.W. Grainger has a consensus price target of $1,116.25, indicating a potential upside of 9.02%. 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)	8 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17
W.W. Grainger	2 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17

Which has higher valuation and earnings, 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fastenal	$7.55B	6.94	$1.15B	$1.04	43.88
W.W. Grainger	$17.17B	2.87	$1.91B	$38.95	26.29

Do institutionals & insiders 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 insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, FAST or GWW?

Fastenal has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor FAST or GWW?

In the previous week, Fastenal had 53 more articles in the media than W.W. Grainger. MarketBeat recorded 80 mentions for Fastenal and 27 mentions for W.W. Grainger. W.W. Grainger's average media sentiment score of 1.01 beat Fastenal's score of 0.62 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	23 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	28 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
W.W. Grainger	19 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FAST or GWW a better dividend stock?

Fastenal pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. 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 23.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fastenal has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years and W.W. Grainger has increased its dividend for 55 consecutive years.

Summary

W.W. Grainger beats Fastenal on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.