GWW vs. HONA: W.W. Grainger vs. Honeywell Aerospace Stock Comparison

Company Profile

W.W. Grainger (GWW) and Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) both fall under the Capital Goods industry group, but GWW is classified in Trading Companies & Distributors while HONA is classified in Aerospace & Defense.

W.W. Grainger (GWW) has been public since February 21, 1973, giving it decades of market history across multiple cycles, while Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) listed only on June 15, 2026 and lacks comparable through-cycle data.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) reports a negative beta of -5.78, suggesting inverse market sensitivity over the measurement window. That is uncommon for ordinary equities and can reflect commodity-linked or hedge-like exposure, but it can also come from statistical noise. W.W. Grainger (GWW) has a non-negative beta of 0.93.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Both GWW and HONA need 1-year volatility and 1-year return to plot risk-return positioning.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Capital efficiency shows on one side only: W.W. Grainger (GWW) earns 52.33% on shareholders’ equity, ranked against its industry; Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) has no ROE this period.

Both W.W. Grainger (GWW) at 11.17% and Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) at 11.25% keep about the typical share of revenue as profit for their industries — neither bottom line stands out from peers.

Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) at 23.69% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of W.W. Grainger (GWW) at 16.14%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Both W.W. Grainger (GWW) at 4.51% and Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) at 12.68% land near their industries' usual revenue growth ranges, so top-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

W.W. Grainger (GWW) at -8.55% is around its peer norm for EPS growth, while Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) at -36.80% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker earnings momentum.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Both W.W. Grainger (GWW) at 2.61 and Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) at 1.64 carry current ratio within their industries’ typical mid-ranges, suggesting balanced short-term liquidity relative to peers.

Only one side’s leverage can be read here: W.W. Grainger (GWW) carries debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65 against its industry range, while Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) reports no figure this period.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile W.W. Grainger (GWW) reports a yield of 0.65%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile W.W. Grainger (GWW) reports a payout of 20.87%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

W.W. Grainger (GWW) at 31.66 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) at 43.32 sits in the richer quartile — HONA needs stronger growth or earnings quality to justify the premium.

On P/S ratio, both W.W. Grainger (GWW) at 3.48 and Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) at 2.69 are priced roughly in line with their industries — neither looks cheap nor rich on a sales basis.

Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) reports a negative P/B ratio of -18.85, meaning negative book equity — the multiple itself is not meaningful for valuation. Meanwhile W.W. Grainger (GWW) reports 15.56, ranking against industry peers normally.

Valuation Metrics