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W.W. Grainger (W.W. Grainger) Graham Number

: $204.90 (As of Dec. 2023)
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Graham Number is a figure that measures a stock's fundamental value by taking into account the company's earnings per share and book value per share. The Graham number is the upper bound of the price range that a defensive investor should pay for the stock. According to the theory, any stock price below the Graham number is considered undervalued, and thus worth investing in.

As of today (2024-04-19), the stock price of W.W. Grainger is $937.35. W.W. Grainger's graham number for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 was $204.90. Therefore, W.W. Grainger's Price to Graham Number ratio for today is 4.57.

The historical rank and industry rank for W.W. Grainger's Graham Number or its related term are showing as below:

GWW' s Price-to-Graham-Number Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 2.55   Med: 3.9   Max: 4.96
Current: 4.57

During the past 13 years, the highest Price to Graham Number ratio of W.W. Grainger was 4.96. The lowest was 2.55. And the median was 3.90.

GWW's Price-to-Graham-Number is ranked worse than
94.83% of 116 companies
in the Industrial Distribution industry
Industry Median: 0.855 vs GWW: 4.57

Graham Number is a combination of asset valuation and earnings power valuation. It is a very conservative way of valuing a stock.


W.W. Grainger Graham Number Historical Data

The historical data trend for W.W. Grainger's Graham Number can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

W.W. Grainger Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Graham Number
Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 90.17 91.54 104.46 156.18 204.96

W.W. Grainger Quarterly Data
Mar19 Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23
Graham Number Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 156.21 175.47 189.64 199.81 204.90

Competitive Comparison

For the Industrial Distribution subindustry, W.W. Grainger's Price-to-Graham-Number, along with its competitors' market caps and Price-to-Graham-Number data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


W.W. Grainger Price-to-Graham-Number Distribution

For the Industrial Distribution industry and Industrials sector, W.W. Grainger's Price-to-Graham-Number distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where W.W. Grainger's Price-to-Graham-Number falls into.



W.W. Grainger Graham Number Calculation

Graham Number is a concept based on Ben Graham's conservative valuation of companies.

W.W. Grainger's Graham Number for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Graham Number
=sqrt of (22.5* Tangible Book per Share *EPS without NRI)
=sqrt of (22.5*50.915*36.67)
=204.96

W.W. Grainger's Graham Number for the quarter that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Graham Number
=sqrt of (22.5*Tangible Book per Share*EPS without NRI (TTM))
=sqrt of (22.5*50.915*36.65)
=204.90

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


W.W. Grainger  (NYSE:GWW) Graham Number Explanation

Ben Graham actually did not publish a formula like this. But he wrote in The Intelligent Investor (1948 version) regarding to the criteria for purchases:

Current price should not be more than 15 times average earnings of the past three years.

Current price should not be more than 1.5 times the book value last reported. However, a multiplier of earnings below 15 could justify a correspondingly higher multiplier of assets. As a rule of thumb we suggest that the product of the multiplier times the ratio of price to book value should not exceed 22.5. (This figure corresponds to 15 times earnings and 1.5 times book value. It would admit an issue selling at only 9 times earnings and 2.5 times asset value, etc.)

Unlike valuation methods such as DCF or Discounted Earnings, the Graham number does not take growth into the valuation. Unlike the valuation methods based on book value alone, it takes into account the earnings power. Therefore, the Graham Number is a combination of asset valuation and earnings power valuation.

In general, the Graham number is a very conservative way of valuing a stock. It cannot be applied to companies with negative book values.

W.W. Grainger's Price to Graham number Ratio for today is calculated as

Price to Graham number=Share Price (Today)/Graham number (Q: Dec. 2023 )
=937.35/204.90
=4.57

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.


Be Aware

Please keep these in mind:

1. Graham Number does not take growth into account. Therefore it underestimates the values of the companies that have good earnings growth. We feel that if the earnings per share grows more than 10% a year, Graham Number underestimates the value.
2. Graham Number punishes the companies that have temporarily low earnings. Therefore, an average of earnings makes more sense in the calculation of Graham Number.
3. Graham Numbers underestimates companies that are light with book.


W.W. Grainger Graham Number Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of W.W. Grainger's Graham Number provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


W.W. Grainger (W.W. Grainger) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
100 Grainger Parkway, Lake Forest, IL, USA, 60045-5201
W.W. Grainger distributes approximately 1.5 million maintenance, repair, and operating products that are sourced from over 4,500 suppliers. The company serves about 5 million customers through its online and electronic purchasing platforms, vending machines, catalog distribution, and network of over 300 global branches. In recent years, Grainger has invested in its e-commerce capabilities and is the 11th-largest e-retailer in North America.
Executives
Laurie R Thomson officer: VP, Controller 100 GRAINGER PARKWAY, LAKE FOREST IL 60045
Donald G Macpherson director, officer: Chairman and CEO 100 GRAINGER PARKWAY, LAKE FOREST IL 60045
Matt Fortin officer: SVP & Chief HR Officer 100 GRAINGER PARKWAY, LAKE FOREST IL 60045
George S Davis director 100 GRAINGER PARKWAY, LAKE FOREST IL 60045
Rodney C Adkins director 55 GLENLAKE PARKWAY, NE, ATLANTA GA 30328
Katherine D. Jaspon director 130 ROYALL STREET, C/O DUNKIN' BRANDS, INC., CANTON MA 02021
Susan Slavik Williams director 4450 MACARTHUR BLVD., SECOND FLOOR, NEWPORT BEACH CA 92660
Stuart L Levenick director 100 NE ADAMS STREET, PEORIA IL 61629
Neil S Novich director RYERSON LTULL INC, 2621 W 15TH PLACE, CHICAGO IL 60603
V Ann Hailey director THREE LIMITED PARKWAY, COLUMBUS OH 43230
Steven Andrew White director 1 HORMEL PLACE, AUSTIN MN 55912
Beatriz R Perez director ONE COCA-COLA PLAZA, ATLANTA GA 30313
Ernest Scott Santi director ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC., 155 HARLEM AVE., GLENVIEW IL 60025
Lucas E Watson director 100 GRAINGER PARKWAY, LAKE FOREST IL 60045
Paige K Robbins officer: Sr. VP (see Remarks) 100 GRAINGER PARKWAY, LAKE FOREST IL 60045

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