W.W. Grainger's products may not be sexy, but its numbers are quite attractive. Earnings per share growth the past four quarters has ranged from 46% to 68%. Its sales growth has been in double digits during that time too. On Wednesday, the Relative Strength Rating for Grainger stock jumped to a higher percentile, rising to 81 from 77 the day before. Not bad timing considering it will report Q4 results Thursday.
Grainger Stock Moves Into Elite Group
The 81 RS Rating shows that Grainger stock price appreciation is in the top 19% of all stocks in IBD's database. Research shows that stocks with an 80 or higher RS Rating are more likely than others to post big gains. Additionally, the 81 rating puts stock watchlist candidate Grainger stock among the best stocks to buy and watch.
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W.W. Grainger distributes tools, lighting and plumbing equipment and other building and maintenance tools via more than 246 branches.
Among its other key ratings, Grainger boasts a 94 Earnings Per Share Rating, putting it in the top 6% of companies for recent and long-term profit growth. It also has a 94 Composite Rating, an amalgam of IBD's five other key ratings. And it B- Accumulation/Distribution Rating on an A+ to E scale shows that institutional investors such as ETFs and mutual funds are fairly heavy buyers of its stock.
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Grainger stock is building a flat base with a 612.16 entry. See if it can clear the breakout price in volume at least 40% above average. In October the company raised its guidance for full year 2022 earnings to $29.10 $29.70 per share on $15.1 billion to $15.2 billion revenue. Its stock popped 4.68% to 598.56 Wednesday.
Q4 Earnings Results Next
The company posted 46% EPS growth last quarter, to a hefty $8.27, on 17% sales growth to $394 billion. W.W. Grainger says on its website it will announce fourth quarter earnings before the market opens Thursday.
The company earns the No. 3 rank among its peers in the Machinery-Tools & Related industry group. Lincoln Electric and Applied Industrial Tech are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
IBD's unique rating identifies price performance with a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score. The rating shows how a stock's price performance over the last 52 weeks holds up against all the other stocks in our database.
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