W.W. Grainger (GWW) stock: Winston Score and insider trades

§Winston Score History

W.W. Grainger sells maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) supplies to businesses. Think of it as a giant hardware and industrial supply store for companies — selling things like safety equipment, tools, motors, lighting, and cleaning products. Its main customers are factories, hospitals, schools, contractors, and government agencies across North America.

Grainger makes money by selling products directly to business customers, either through its website, catalogs, or sales representatives. It operates primarily in the United States and Canada, with a growing online business in Japan through its subsidiary MonotaRO. With over one million products available and deep relationships with large institutional buyers, Grainger benefits from the sheer convenience and reliability it offers customers who need supplies fast. The key growth driver is continued expansion of its digital sales channels and its "endless assortment" model, which targets smaller businesses through its Zoro brand — though competition from Amazon Business remains a real and growing threat.

Politician Trades

7 trades / 12mo

4 Congressional buys and 3 sells on GWW in the last 12 months.

Unlock the full Smart Money Map — every trade plotted on the price chart with politicians, amounts and returns since each trade. Founder's Deal is $57/mo locked for life.

Unlock politician trades

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+10.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

Reported EPS Growth

+19.1% YoY

Quarterly reporting periods ended:

30 Jun 2025: $10.04

30 Jun 2026: $11.96

Reported/statutory EPS, not adjusted or underlying earnings. One-off items can affect this figure. Provider rounding can affect the growth rate.

YoY Growth Rate

Reported EPS increased year over year

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

8.7%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$589M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

→ Burn rate stable

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth + cash flow

W.W. Grainger is a rare growth stock that's already generating positive cash flow while growing at 10%. The Winston Score doesn't fully credit this transition from "burner" to "earner."

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

39.5%

Modest — 39.5% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

16.1%

Healthy — 16.1% operating margin

Return on the money invested

ROCE

39.6%

Exceptional — 39.6% return on capital

ROIC above 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns more than 25 cents back per year.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

+7.8%

Steady sales growth (+7.8% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

-1.0%

Earnings shrinking (-1.0% YoY)

Slight earnings drop. Typical near a cyclical low.

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

6/8 quarters

Earnings grew in most of the last 8 quarters

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

116%

Turns 116% of profit into real cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

8.0%

Modest free cash flow (8.0%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

0.68

Moderate — manageable debt (0.68)

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

33.89x

Comfortably covers interest (33.9x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

34.4x

Pricey — P/E 34.4

P/E above the market average. People are paying up for expected growth.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

+8.9

GROWING

Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (34.4 → 25.5)

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

Dividends

Dividend

Dividend Yield

0.77%

Small dividend — 0.77% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend record

Dividend Growth

+10.2%

Dividend growing fast (10.2% YoY)

Payout Ratio

26%

no trend

Pays out a modest share of profit and keeps the rest to reinvest. Room to keep paying through a weak year.

Full breakdown available with your free trial

See every metric, trend, and what it means for this stock.

Try free

🔒 See full fundamentals and if they are improving or declining — click here for your free trial now.

Start free trial

W.W. Grainger

§How the score breaks down

Share count falling — buybacks

§Winston Score History

Politician Trades

Growth Profile

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Quality

Growth

Cash Flow

Stability

Valuation

Dividends