Investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Enerflex (EFXT) 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 Oils-Energy sector should help us answer this question.
Enerflex is a member of our Oils-Energy group, which includes 238 different companies and currently sits at #1 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Enerflex is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EFXT's full-year earnings has moved 43.2% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that EFXT has returned about 79.8% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Oils-Energy group have gained about 30.8% on average. This shows that Enerflex is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) is another Oils-Energy stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 44.1%.
The consensus estimate for Canadian Natural Resources' current year EPS has increased 103.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Enerflex belongs to the Alternative Energy - Other industry, a group that includes 50 individual stocks and currently sits at #71 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 19.8% so far this year, so EFXT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Canadian Natural Resources belongs to the Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - Canadian industry. This 8-stock industry is currently ranked #9. The industry has moved +47.7% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should continue to pay close attention to Enerflex and Canadian Natural Resources as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Enerflex Ltd. (EFXT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).