GWW vs WCC Stock Comparison

W.W. Grainger and Wesco International Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GWW W.W. Grainger, Inc.
$1,350.12 +6.2% 1M +40.0% 1Y
Market cap
$64.13B
P/E
34.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.85B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Distribution Industrials
8 wins
WCC Wesco International Inc
$317.84 -13.2% 1M +44.7% 1Y
Market cap
$16.12B
P/E
22.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$25.01B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Distribution Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

W.W. Grainger leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (W.W. Grainger 8, Wesco International 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGWWWCCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $64.13B $16.12B GWW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.3x 22.5x WCC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.6x 17.9x WCC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.8% +12.5% WCC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.9% 2.9% GWW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 29.6% 9.3% GWW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 3.2x GWW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% GWW
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +40.0% +44.7% WCC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.3%/yr +20.4%/yr GWW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.5% 45.2% GWW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 41/100 GWW

Percentile Scorecard

GWWWCC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisGWWWCC
Valuation 7 #43 of 46 44 #26 of 46
Growth 55 #18 of 39 47 #21 of 39
Profitability 97 #2 of 40 39 #25 of 40
Financial Health 71 #15 of 49 25 #37 of 49
Shareholder Returns 58 #14 of 32 52 #16 of 32
Overall 58 41
  • GWW ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • WCC ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodGWWWCCSPY
1 month +6.2%-13.2% -1.0%
3 months -2.3%-4.5% +2.9%
6 months +17.6%+0.4% +6.4%
Year to date +33.8%+29.9% +11.4%
1 year +40.0%+44.7% +13.1%
3 years +96.6%+152.3% +79.4%
3 years, per year +25.3%+36.2% +21.5%
5 years +208.9%+153.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year +25.3%+20.4% +10.9%
10 years +562.6%+440.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +20.8%+18.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureGWWWCCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.5%45.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.5%43.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.502.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.700.99 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -24.8%-37.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.7%-17.3% -2.5%
52-week high $1,402.04$384.12 $779.14
52-week low $918.18$219.67 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleGWWWCC
P/E now vs peer median 34.1xmedian 25.9x 21.7xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 3.4xmedian 1.0x 0.6xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.8xmedian 13.0x 13.0xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 42.1xmedian 23.0x 99.9xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 14.1xmedian 2.4x 3.0xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 8.37median 2.37 -15.74median 2.37

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsGWWWCC
Revenue $18.85B $25.01B
Gross profit $7.42B $5.35B
Operating income $2.75B $1.35B
Net income $1.98B $712.90M
Free cash flow $1.51B $155.10M
EPS (diluted) $39.62 $14.48
Cash & equivalents $589.00M $808.90M
Total debt $2.41B $5.94B
Shares (diluted) 47.20M 49.40M
Enterprise value $61.72B $13.44B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricGWWWCC
P/E 34.1x 21.7x
P/FCF 42.1x 99.9x
P/Operating cash flow 29.2x 58.6x
P/S 3.4x 0.6x
P/B 14.1x 3.0x
P/Tangible book 15.0x 4.4x
EV/EBITDA 21.8x 13.0x
EV/EBIT 23.8x 15.3x
EV/Revenue 3.5x 0.8x
EV/FCF 43.3x 132.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 30.1x 78.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 8.37 -15.74

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGWWWCC
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.8% 12.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 3.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.2% 12.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% 3.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 2.8% 12.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.3% -3.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -1.4% 7.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 2.5% -5.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -0.9% 12.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.1% -1.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.5% -63.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.8% -11.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 6.6% -74.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.6% -16.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGWWWCC
Gross margin 39.4% 21.4%
EBITDA margin 15.9% 6.4%
Operating margin 14.6% 5.4%
Pretax margin 14.2% 3.7%
Net margin 9.9% 2.9%
FCF margin 8.0% 0.6%
Operating cash flow margin 11.5% 1.1%
Return on equity 44.7% 13.8%
Return on assets 20.8% 4.1%
Return on invested capital 29.6% 9.3%
Return on capital employed 37.1% 11.0%
Asset turnover 2.0x 1.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 0.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGWWWCC
Debt / assets 25.0% 33.3%
Debt / equity 0.5x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 3.2x
Debt / FCF 1.6x 38.3x
Liabilities / assets 53.1% 70.7%
Equity / assets 46.9% 29.3%
Interest coverage – –
Current ratio 2.8x 2.1x
Quick ratio 1.6x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 13.17 3.23

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGWWWCC
Dividend yield 0.7% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 1.5% 0.4%
Shareholder yield 2.2% 1.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 25.0% 13.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 32.8% 60.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) 12.5% 10.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.1% 34.3%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusGWWWCC
Forward P/E 27.6xFY2026 17.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $48.95FY2026 $17.71FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +24.0%FY2026 +37.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.9% +10.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $20.21BFY2026 $27.17BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.6%FY2026 +15.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.8% +8.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGWWWCC
Held by institutions 75.5% 96.3%
Institutions holding 1,364 699
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.5% -3.7%
Institutions buying 656 327
Institutions selling 428 277
Buyers to sellers 1.53 1.18

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

GWWWCC
GWW 1.00 0.34
WCC 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GWW and WCC?

W.W. Grainger (GWW) is the largest by market capitalisation: W.W. Grainger (GWW) $64.13B, Wesco International (WCC) $16.12B.

Which stock is cheaper, GWW and WCC?

Wesco International (WCC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (W.W. Grainger (GWW) 34.3x, Wesco International (WCC) 22.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Wesco International (WCC) is cheapest (W.W. Grainger (GWW) 27.6x, Wesco International (WCC) 17.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Wesco International (WCC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: W.W. Grainger (GWW) +7.8%, Wesco International (WCC) +12.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

W.W. Grainger (GWW) has the highest net margin (W.W. Grainger (GWW) 9.9%, Wesco International (WCC) 2.9%). On return on invested capital, W.W. Grainger (GWW) leads (W.W. Grainger (GWW) 29.6%, Wesco International (WCC) 9.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Wesco International (WCC) returned the most: W.W. Grainger (GWW) +40.0%, Wesco International (WCC) +44.7%. Over five years, W.W. Grainger (GWW) compounded fastest (W.W. Grainger (GWW) +25.3%/yr, Wesco International (WCC) +20.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

W.W. Grainger (GWW) has the highest dividend yield: W.W. Grainger (GWW) 0.01%, Wesco International (WCC) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, W.W. Grainger (GWW) has been the steadiest (W.W. Grainger (GWW) 23.5%, Wesco International (WCC) 45.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do GWW and WCC move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.34, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, GWW and WCC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, W.W. Grainger (GWW) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.