The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Industrial Products peers, we might be able to answer that question.
W.W. Grainger is a member of the Industrial Products sector. This group includes 189 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #8. 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. W.W. Grainger is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GWW's full-year earnings has moved 1.7% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the latest available data, GWW has gained about 23.5% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have gained about 13.3% on average. This means that W.W. Grainger is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
One other Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is MSC Industrial (MSM). The stock is up 47.1% year-to-date.
For MSC Industrial, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.8% 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, a group that includes 17 individual stocks and currently sits at #170 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 7.1% so far this year, meaning that GWW is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. MSC Industrial is also part of the same industry.
Investors with an interest in Industrial Products stocks should continue to track W.W. Grainger and MSC Industrial. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).