Are Aerospace Stocks Lagging GE Aerospace (GE) This Year?

Investors interested in Aerospace stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has GE Aerospace (GE) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Aerospace sector should help us answer this question.

GE Aerospace is a member of our Aerospace group, which includes 77 different companies and currently sits at #3 in 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. GE Aerospace is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GE's full-year earnings has moved 5.9% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, GE has moved about 18% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Aerospace companies have returned an average of 5.6%. As we can see, GE Aerospace is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Aerospace sector, Heico Corporation (HEI), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 12.3%.

Over the past three months, Heico Corporation's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, GE Aerospace belongs to the Aerospace - Defense industry, a group that includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #96 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 4.5% so far this year, meaning that GE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Heico Corporation falls under the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry. Currently, this industry has 37 stocks and is ranked #70. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +8.4%.

Investors interested in the Aerospace sector may want to keep a close eye on GE Aerospace and Heico Corporation as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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

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