Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Industrial Products Stocks Lagging W.W. Grainger (GWW) This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

For those looking to find strong Industrial Products stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. W.W. Grainger (GWW - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.

W.W. Grainger is one of 217 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. W.W. Grainger is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GWW's full-year earnings has moved 8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that GWW has returned about 38.5% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Industrial Products sector has returned an average of 8.3% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, W.W. Grainger is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, O-I Glass (OI - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 24.9%.

In O-I Glass' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 26.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, W.W. Grainger belongs to the Industrial Services industry, which includes 23 individual stocks and currently sits at #104 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 28.8% so far this year, so GWW is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, O-I Glass belongs to the Glass Products industry. This 6-stock industry is currently ranked #114. The industry has moved +3% year to date.

W.W. Grainger and O-I Glass could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


O-I Glass, Inc. (OI) - free report >>

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) - free report >>

Published in