Investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has SM Energy (SM) 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 Oils-Energy sector should help us answer this question.
SM Energy is a member of our Oils-Energy group, which includes 254 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. SM Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SM's full-year earnings has moved 6.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
According to our latest data, SM has moved about 88.5% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Oils-Energy sector has returned an average of 34.5% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that SM Energy is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another stock in the Oils-Energy sector, Kosmos Energy (KOS), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 185.4%.
Over the past three months, Kosmos Energy's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 75.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, SM Energy is a member of the Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry, which includes 34 individual companies and currently sits at #67 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 26% so far this year, so SM is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
Kosmos Energy, however, belongs to the Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - International industry. Currently, this 8-stock industry is ranked #107. The industry has moved +61.3% so far this year.
Investors interested in the Oils-Energy sector may want to keep a close eye on SM Energy and Kosmos Energy as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).