W.W. Grainger
Market Cap
US$16.9b
Last Updated
2019/10/18 23:35 UTC
Data Sources
Company Financials +
Executive Summary
W.W. Grainger, Inc. distributes maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products and services in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Mexico, and internationally.
Snowflake
Fundamentals
Established dividend payer with adequate balance sheet.
Similar Companies
Share Price & News
How has W.W. Grainger's share price performed over time and what events caused price changes?
Latest Share Price and Events
Market Performance
7 Day Return
1.6%
GWW
6.9%
US Trade Distributors
1.8%
US Market
1 Year Return
12.2%
GWW
7.9%
US Trade Distributors
7.3%
US Market
Return vs Industry: GWW exceeded the US Trade Distributors industry which returned 7.9% over the past year.
Return vs Market: GWW exceeded the US Market which returned 7.3% over the past year.
Shareholder returns
| GWW | Industry | Market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Day | 1.6% | 6.9% | 1.8% |
| 30 Day | 6.0% | 1.1% | -0.7% |
| 90 Day | 16.0% | 8.5% | 0.06% |
| 1 Year | 14.5%12.2% | 9.9%7.9% | 9.7%7.3% |
| 3 Year | 62.3%52.2% | 44.9%38.7% | 46.3%36.9% |
| 5 Year | 44.9%30.4% | 32.0%22.6% | 64.5%46.5% |
Price Volatility Vs. Market
How volatile is W.W. Grainger's share price compared to the market and industry in the last 5 years?
Simply Wall St News
1 week ago | Simply Wall St
Is W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) A High Quality Stock To Own?2 weeks ago | Simply Wall St
Where W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Stands In Terms Of Earnings Growth Against Its Industry3 weeks ago | Simply Wall St
If You Had Bought W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW) Stock Three Years Ago, You Could Pocket A 35% Gain TodayValuation
Is W.W. Grainger undervalued compared to its fair value and its price relative to the market?
21.1x
Price to Earnings (PE) ratio
Share Price vs. Fair Value
Undervalued: GWW ($310.08) is trading above our estimate of fair value ($287.56)
Significantly Undervalued: GWW is trading above our estimate of fair value.
Price To Earnings Ratio
PE vs Industry: GWW is poor value based on its PE Ratio (21.1x) compared to the Trade Distributors industry average (16.7x).
PE vs Market: GWW is poor value based on its PE Ratio (21.1x) compared to the US market (17.7x).
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
Low PEG Ratio: GWW is poor value based on its PEG Ratio (3.1x)
Price to Book Ratio
PB vs Industry: GWW is overvalued based on its PB Ratio (8.8x) compared to the US Trade Distributors industry average (1.4x).
Next Steps
Future Growth
How is W.W. Grainger forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 20 analysts?
6.7%
Forecasted annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts
Analyst Future Growth Forecasts
Earnings vs Savings Rate: GWW's forecast earnings growth (6.7% per year) is above the savings rate (2.7%).
Earnings vs Market: GWW's earnings (6.7% per year) are forecast to grow slower than the US market (14.6% per year).
High Growth Earnings: GWW's earnings are forecast to grow, but not significantly.
Revenue vs Market: GWW's revenue (4.3% per year) is forecast to grow slower than the US market (7.3% per year).
High Growth Revenue: GWW's revenue (4.3% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.
Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts
Future Return on Equity
High Future ROE: GWW's Return on Equity is forecast to be very high in 3 years time (40.1%).
Next Steps
Past Performance
How has W.W. Grainger performed over the past 5 years?
-2.1%
Historical annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue History
Past Earnings Growth Analysis
Earnings Trend: GWW's earnings have declined by -2.1% per year over the past 5 years.
Accelerating Growth: GWW's earnings growth over the past year (5.2%) exceeds its 5-year average (-2.1% per year).
Earnings vs Industry: GWW earnings growth over the past year (5.2%) exceeded the Trade Distributors industry 0.9%.
Return on Equity
High ROE: Whilst GWW's Return on Equity (41.06%) is outstanding, this metric is skewed due to their high level of debt.
Return on Assets
ROA vs Industry: GWW has a higher Return on Assets than the Trade Distributors industry average last year.
Return on Capital Employed
ROCE Improving: GWW has improved its Return on Capital Employed over the past 3 years.
Next Steps
Financial Health
How is W.W. Grainger's financial position?
Financial Position Analysis
Short Term Liabilities: GWW's short term assets ($3.5B) exceeds its short term liabilities ($1.5B)
Long Term Liabilities: GWW's short term assets (3.5B) exceeds its long term liabilities (2.4B)
Debt to Equity History and Analysis
Debt Level: GWW's debt to equity ratio (104.6%) is considered high
Reducing Debt: GWW's debt to equity ratio has increased from 16.5% to 104.6% over the past 5 years.
Debt Coverage: GWW's debt is well covered by operating cash flow (50.3%).
Interest Coverage: GWW's interest payments on its debt are well covered by EBIT (18.5x coverage).
Balance Sheet
Inventory Level: GWW has a high level of physical assets or inventory.
Debt Coverage by Assets: GWW's debt is covered by short term assets (assets are 1.562380x debt).
Next Steps
Dividend
What is W.W. Grainger's current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?
1.86%
Current Dividend Yield
Dividend Yield vs Market
Current dividend yield vs market & industry
Stability and Growth of Payments
Notable Dividend: GWW's dividend (1.86%) is higher than the bottom 25% of dividend payers in the US market (1.45%).
High Dividend: GWW's dividend (1.86%) is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the US market (3.72%).
Stable Dividend: GWW's dividends per share have been stable in the past 10 years.
Growing Dividend: GWW's dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years.
Current Payout to Shareholders
Dividend Coverage: With its reasonably low payout ratio (37.6%), GWW's dividend payments are well covered by earnings.
Future Payout to Shareholders
Future Dividend Coverage: GWW's dividends in 3 years are forecast to be well covered by earnings (32.4% payout ratio).
Next Steps
Management
What is the CEO of W.W. Grainger's salary, the management and board of directors tenure and is there insider trading?
3.0yrs
Average management tenure
CEO
DG Macpherson (51yo)
3yrs
Tenure
US$10,455,844
Compensation
Mr. Donald G. Macpherson, also known as DG, has been the Chief Executive Officer of W.W. Grainger, Inc. since October 01, 2016 and has been its Chairman since October 2017. Mr. Macpherson served as the Chi ...
CEO Compensation Analysis
Compensation vs. Market: DG's total compensation ($USD10.46M) is about average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD11.21M).
Compensation vs Earnings: DG's compensation has increased by more than 20% in the past year.
Management Age and Tenure
3.0yrs
Average Tenure
50.5yo
Average Age
Experienced Management: GWW's management team is considered experienced (3 years average tenure).
Board Age and Tenure
11.5yrs
Average Tenure
65yo
Average Age
Experienced Board: GWW's board of directors are seasoned and experienced ( 11.5 years average tenure).
Insider Trading
Insider Buying: Insufficient data to determine if insiders have bought more shares than they have sold in the past 3 months.
Recent Insider Transactions
| Entity | Individual |
| Shares | 180 |
| Max Price | US$272.58 |
Ownership Breakdown
Management Team
John Howard (61yo)
Senior VP & General Counsel
- Tenure: 19.8yrs
- Compensation: US$3.04m
Hugo Dubovoy
VP & Corporate Secretary
- Tenure: 0yrs
Deb Oler (64yo)
Senior VP and President North America Sales & Service
- Tenure: 0yrs
DG Macpherson (51yo)
Chairman & CEO
- Tenure: 3yrs
- Compensation: US$10.46m
David Rawlinson (43yo)
President of Online Business
- Tenure: 4.2yrs
Paige Robbins (50yo)
Senior VP & Chief Digital Officer
- Tenure: 3.8yrs
- Compensation: US$2.25m
Kathleen Carroll (50yo)
Senior VP & Chief Human Resources Officer
- Tenure: 0.8yrs
Tom Okray (56yo)
Senior VP & CFO
- Tenure: 1.4yrs
- Compensation: US$4.31m
Irene Holman
Vice President of Investor Relations
- Tenure: 1.3yrs
Deidra Merriwether (50yo)
Senior VP & President of U.S. Direct Sales and Strategic Initiatives
- Tenure: 0yrs
- Compensation: US$1.36m
Board Members
Brian Anderson (68yo)
Independent Director
- Tenure: 20.8yrs
- Compensation: US$318.57k
Stu Levenick (66yo)
Lead Director
- Tenure: 3.5yrs
- Compensation: US$346.07k
Neil Novich (64yo)
Independent Director
- Tenure: 20.8yrs
- Compensation: US$318.57k
V. Hailey (68yo)
Independent Director
- Tenure: 13.4yrs
- Compensation: US$331.07k
jim Slavik (66yo)
Independent Director
- Tenure: 32.8yrs
- Compensation: US$318.57k
Mike Roberts (68yo)
Independent Director
- Tenure: 13.7yrs
- Compensation: US$333.57k
E. Santi (57yo)
Independent Director
- Tenure: 9.5yrs
- Compensation: US$318.57k
Rod Adkins (60yo)
Independent Director
- Tenure: 5.3yrs
- Compensation: US$318.57k
Beatriz Perez (49yo)
Independent Director
- Tenure: 2.3yrs
- Compensation: US$318.57k
DG Macpherson (51yo)
Chairman & CEO
- Tenure: 3yrs
- Compensation: US$10.46m
Company Information
W.W. Grainger, Inc.'s company bio, employee growth, exchange listings and data sources
Key Information
- Name: W.W. Grainger, Inc.
- Ticker: GWW
- Exchange: NYSE
- Founded: 1927
- Industry: Trading Companies and Distributors
- Sector: Capital Goods
- Market Cap: US$16.921b
- Shares outstanding: 54.57m
- Website: https://www.grainger.com
Number of Employees
Location
- W.W. Grainger, Inc.
- 100 Grainger Parkway
- Lake Forest
- Illinois
- 60045
- United States
Listings
| Ticker | Exchange | Primary Security | Security Type | Country | Currency | Listed on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GWW | NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) | Yes | Common Stock | US | USD | Jul 1971 |
| GWW | DB (Deutsche Boerse AG) | Yes | Common Stock | DE | EUR | Jul 1971 |
| 0IZI | LSE (London Stock Exchange) | Yes | Common Stock | GB | USD | Jul 1971 |
Biography
W.W. Grainger, Inc. distributes maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products and services in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Mexico, and internationally. The company provides material handli ...
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2019/10/18 23:35 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2019/10/18 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2019/06/30 |
| Annual Earnings | 2018/12/31 |
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.