Sifting through countless of stocks in the Trading Companies & Distributors industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in DNOW Inc. or McGrath RentCorp because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp

DNOW Inc. distributes pipe, valves, fittings, and pumps in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company offers flanges, gaskets, fasteners, electrical, instrumentation, artificial lift, and pumping systems, process and production equipment, production measurement technology, maintenance, repair and operating consumables (MRO), and general and specialty products; personal protective equipment; and mill, tools, safety supplies, as well as vapor recovery systems under EcoVapo brand. It also offers original equipment manufacturer equipment, including pumps, generator sets, air compressors, dryers, blowers, mixers, and valves; modular oil and gas wellsite facility solutions; and application systems, work processes, parts integration, optimization solutions, and after-sales support services. In addition, the company provides supply chain and materials management; inventory planning; integrated supply; integrated supply; product quality programs; manufacturer assessments; multiple daily deliveries; volume purchasing; truck stocking; technical support; training; just-in-time delivery; and on-site commissioning; after-market field repair and rental mobile pumping units; inventory and zone store management; order consolidation; product tagging and system interfaces tailored; supplier specifications; engineering of control packages; valve inspection and repair; product expediting, tracking and tracing; documentation services; and pressure testing services. It serves customers in the upstream, midstream, and Gas Utilities sectors, as well as downstream and industrial including crude oil refining, petrochemical and chemical processing, general industrials, pharmaceutical, mining, water/wastewater treatment, data centers, liquefied natural gas, and terminals and renewable natural gas facilities. The company was formerly known as NOW Inc. and changed its name to DNOW Inc. in January 2024. DNOW Inc. was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

McGrath RentCorp operates as a business-to-business rental company in the United States and internationally. The company also engages in renting and selling relocatable modular buildings, portable storage containers, and electronic test equipment. The company operates through four segments: Mobile Modular, Portable Storage, TRS-RenTelco, and Enviroplex. The Mobile Modular segment rents and sells modular buildings designed for use as classrooms, temporary offices adjacent to existing facilities, sales offices, construction field offices, restroom buildings, health care clinics, childcare facilities, office spaces, and various other purposes. The Portable Storage segment offers steel containers, such as storage and office containers, to provide temporary storage solutions to construction, retail, commercial and industrial, energy and petrochemical, manufacturing, education, and healthcare markets. The TRS-RenTelco segment rents and sells general purpose electronic test equipment, such as oscilloscopes, amplifiers, analyzers, signal source, and power source test equipment primarily for the aerospace, defense, electronics, industrial, research, and semiconductor industries. This segment also provides communications test equipment, including network and transmission test equipment for various fiber, copper, and wireless networks to the manufacturers of communications equipment and products, electrical and communications installation contractors, field technicians, and service providers. The Enviroplex segment manufactures and sells portable classrooms directly to public school districts and other educational institutions in California. The company was incorporated in 1979 and is based in Livermore, California.

Latest Trading Companies & Distributors and DNOW Inc., McGrath RentCorp Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, DNOW Inc. had a $2.6 billion market capitalization, compared to the Trading Companies & Distributors median of $4.9 million. DNOW Inc.’s stock is up 6.6% in 2026, down 2% in the previous five trading days and down 10.18% in the past year.

Currently, DNOW Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. DNOW Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.4 billion with a -4.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 97.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $0.318 per share for the current fiscal year. DNOW Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of July 31, 2026, McGrath RentCorp had a $2.8 billion market cap, putting it in the 59th percentile of all stocks. McGrath RentCorp’s stock is up 9.7% in 2026, down 3.8% in the previous five trading days and down 8.81% in the past year.

Currently, McGrath RentCorp’s price-earnings ratio is 18.5. McGrath RentCorp’s trailing 12-month revenue is $932.9 million with a 16.4% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -6.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $6.350 per share for the current fiscal year. McGrath RentCorp currently has a 1.7% dividend yield.

How We Compare DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
DNOW Inc.	DNOW	F
McGrath RentCorp	MGRC	B

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

DNOW Inc. has a Quality Score of 18, which is Very Weak. McGrath RentCorp has a Quality Score of 78, which is Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: McGrath RentCorp

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, McGrath RentCorp has a better overall quality grade than DNOW Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, McGrath RentCorp could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
DNOW Inc.	DNOW	D
McGrath RentCorp	MGRC	D

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

DNOW Inc. has a Momentum Score of 37, which is Weak. McGrath RentCorp has a Momentum Score of 38, which is Weak.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither DNOW Inc. or McGrath RentCorp has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if DNOW Inc. or McGrath RentCorp is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
DNOW Inc.	DNOW	F
McGrath RentCorp	MGRC	D

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

DNOW Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 17, which is Very Negative. McGrath RentCorp has a Earnings Estimate Score of 35, which is Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither DNOW Inc. or McGrath RentCorp has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if DNOW Inc. or McGrath RentCorp is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp Grades

In addition to Quality, Momentum and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Growth.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, DNOW Inc. or McGrath RentCorp Stock?

Overall, DNOW Inc. stock has a Momentum Score of 37, Estimate Revisions Score of 17 and Quality Score of 18.

McGrath RentCorp stock has a Momentum Score of 38, Estimate Revisions Score of 35 and Quality Score of 78.

Comparing DNOW Inc. and McGrath RentCorp’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.