Are Industrial Products Stocks Lagging W.W. Grainger (GWW) This Year?
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) 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 224 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #3 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. 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 7.7% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the latest available data, GWW has gained about 36.9% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Industrial Products sector has returned an average of 11.2% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, W.W. Grainger is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
One other Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Hubbell (HUBB). The stock is up 41.9% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Hubbell's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 22.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, W.W. Grainger belongs to the Industrial Services industry, which includes 22 individual stocks and currently sits at #96 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 28.4% so far this year, meaning that GWW is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Hubbell, however, belongs to the Manufacturing - Electrical Utilities industry. Currently, this 1-stock industry is ranked #1. The industry has moved +42.9% so far this year.
W.W. Grainger and Hubbell could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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