W.W. Grainger vs MSC Industrial Direct
GWW and MSM side by side, both in wholesale trade-durable goods. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How GWW and MSM compare
W.W. Grainger is the larger company, worth 9.5 times as much as MSC Industrial Direct ($64.0B against $6.8B).
On earnings, MSC Industrial Direct is cheaper: it trades at 29.2× trailing earnings, against 34.6× for W.W. Grainger.
W.W. Grainger grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (7.8% versus 4.4% for MSC Industrial Direct).
W.W. Grainger keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 9.9% compared with 5.9% at MSC Industrial Direct.
Both pay dividends: W.W. Grainger yields 0.70% and MSC Industrial Direct 2.9%.
W.W. Grainger scores higher on the StockData Score (16 against 11 for MSC Industrial Direct), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | GWW | MSM |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $64.0B | $6.8B |
| Share price | $1359.17 | $121.02 |
| Change, 1 year | 41.7% | 43.7% |
| Change, 5 years | 187% | 42.4% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.82 | 0.78 |
| Employees | 25K | 7,284 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 16 (better) | 11 |
| Valuation score | 0 | 0 |
| Growth score | 3 (better) | 1 |
| Performance score | 5 (better) | 3 |
| Health score | 4 | 6 (better) |
| Dividend score | 4 (better) | 1 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 34.6× | 29.2× (better) |
| P/S | 3.4× | 1.7× (better) |
| P/B | 15.5× | 4.8× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 21.5× | 16.7× (better) |
| P/FCF | 42.4× | 30.7× (better) |
| PEG | 6.18 | – |
| FCF yield | 2.4% | 3.3% (better) |
| Fair value | $855.20 | $83.84 |
| Margin of safety | −58.9% | −44.3% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 7.8% (better) | 4.4% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 8.7% (better) | 3.4% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | −2.7% | 16.5% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | −0.71% | 16.9% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 22.5% (better) | −4.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 39.4% | 40.8% (better) |
| Operating margin | 14.6% (better) | 8.5% |
| Net margin | 9.9% (better) | 5.9% |
| FCF margin | 8.0% (better) | 5.6% |
| Return on equity | 47.9% (better) | 16.6% |
| Return on invested capital | 35.6% (better) | 13.6% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.58 | 0.36 (better) |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.59 (better) | 1.00 |
| Interest coverage | – | 15.0× |
| Current ratio | 2.81 (better) | 1.55 |
| Altman Z-score | 13.22 (better) | 6.24 |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 (better) |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 0.70% | 2.9% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 26.5% | – |
| Years of dividend growth | 16 | – |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 8.3% | – |
| Buyback yield | 1.6% (better) | 0.21% |
| Shareholder yield | 2.3% | 3.1% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 75.0% | 83.4% |
| Held by insiders | 6.3% | 12.5% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$33.5M | $6.8M (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 2.8% | 5.0% |
Go deeper
- GWW stock overview
- GWW income statement
- GWW valuation and score
- MSM stock overview
- MSM income statement
- MSM valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.