Here's Why W.W. Grainger (GWW) Gained But Lagged the Market Today
W.W. Grainger (GWW) ended the recent trading session at $980.90, demonstrating a +0.76% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.8%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.23%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.14%.
The the stock of seller of maintenance and other supplies has risen by 5.51% in the past month, lagging the Industrial Products sector's gain of 7.89% and overreaching the S&P 500's gain of 5.2%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of W.W. Grainger in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect W.W. Grainger to post earnings of $9.58 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 0.31%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $4.28 billion, indicating a 4.62% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $39.22 per share and revenue of $17.49 billion, indicating changes of +6.95% and +6.13%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for W.W. Grainger. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 1.29% increase. As of now, W.W. Grainger holds a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Looking at its valuation, W.W. Grainger is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 24.82. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.09, so one might conclude that W.W. Grainger is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that GWW currently has a PEG ratio of 1.91. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The average PEG ratio for the Industrial Services industry stood at 1.34 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Industrial Services industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 94, this industry ranks in the top 38% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
