Why W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Could Have A Place In Your Portfolio

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I've been keeping an eye on W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) because I'm attracted to its fundamentals. Looking at the company as a whole, as a potential stock investment, I believe GWW has a lot to offer. Basically, it is a financially-robust , dividend-paying company with a strong history of performance. Below is a brief commentary on these key aspects. For those interested in digging a bit deeper into my commentary, read the full report on W.W. Grainger here.

Established dividend payer with adequate balance sheet

Over the past year, GWW has grown its earnings by 5.2%, with its most recent figure exceeding its annual average over the past five years. In addition to beating its historical values, GWW also outperformed its industry, which delivered a growth of 0.9%. This is what investors like to see! GWW's ability to maintain an adequate level of cash to meet upcoming liabilities is a good sign for its financial health. This implies that GWW manages its cash and cost levels well, which is a crucial insight into the health of the company. GWW seems to have put its debt to good use, generating operating cash levels of 0.5x total debt in the most recent year. This is also a good indication as to whether debt is properly covered by the company’s cash flows.

NYSE:GWW Income Statement, September 2nd 2019
NYSE:GWW Income Statement, September 2nd 2019

For those seeking income streams from their portfolio, GWW is a robust dividend payer as well. Over the past decade, the company has consistently increased its dividend payout, reaching a yield of 2.1%.

NYSE:GWW Historical Dividend Yield, September 2nd 2019
NYSE:GWW Historical Dividend Yield, September 2nd 2019

Next Steps:

For W.W. Grainger, there are three fundamental factors you should further examine:

  1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for GWW’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for GWW’s outlook.

  2. Valuation: What is GWW worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether GWW is currently mispriced by the market.

  3. Other Attractive Alternatives : Are there other well-rounded stocks you could be holding instead of GWW? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.

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