Head-To-Head Comparison: W.W. Grainger (GWW) and Its Rivals

W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) is one of 158 publicly-traded companies in the “Trading Companies & Distributors” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare W.W. Grainger to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for W.W. Grainger and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W.W. Grainger	2	8	3	0	2.08
W.W. Grainger Competitors	1464	4953	6821	238	2.43

W.W. Grainger currently has a consensus target price of $1,253.85, indicating a potential downside of 9.01%. As a group, “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies have a potential upside of 8.56%. Given W.W. Grainger’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe W.W. Grainger has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares W.W. Grainger and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
W.W. Grainger	$18.84 billion	$1.71 billion	35.14
W.W. Grainger Competitors	$6.63 billion	$360.25 million	33.28

W.W. Grainger has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. W.W. Grainger is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.7% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.1% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are held by institutional investors. 6.3% of W.W. Grainger shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.1% of shares of all “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

W.W. Grainger has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.W. Grainger’s competitors have a beta of 1.33, suggesting that their average share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

W.W. Grainger pays an annual dividend of $9.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. W.W. Grainger pays out 25.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Trading Companies & Distributors” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.6% and pay out 34.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. W.W. Grainger has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares W.W. Grainger and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W.W. Grainger	9.92%	48.73%	22.40%
W.W. Grainger Competitors	1.01%	-33.87%	3.50%

Summary

W.W. Grainger beats its competitors on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

W.W. Grainger Company Profile

W.W. Grainger, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes maintenance, repair, and operating products and services primarily in North America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, High-Touch Solutions N.A. and Endless Assortment. The company provides safety, security, material handling and storage equipment, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, and metalworking and hand tools. It also offers technical support and inventory management services. The company serves smaller businesses to large corporations, government entities, and other institutions, as well as commercial, healthcare, and manufacturing industries through sales and service representatives, and electronic and ecommerce channels. W.W. Grainger, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois.