Has Avient (AVNT) Outpaced Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?

For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Avient (AVNT) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Avient is one of 275 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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. Avient is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVNT's full-year earnings has moved 1.1% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, AVNT has returned 15.6% so far this year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 4.2%. This means that Avient is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Ternium S.A. (TX), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 16.6%.

For Ternium S.A., the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 36.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Avient belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry, which includes 31 individual stocks and currently sits at #156 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 17.9% so far this year, meaning that AVNT is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Ternium S.A. falls under the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this industry has 17 stocks and is ranked #42. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +29.3%.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Avient and Ternium S.A. as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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