Investors interested in Aerospace stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. ATI (ATI) 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Aerospace peers, we might be able to answer that question.
ATI is one of 67 companies in the Aerospace group. The Aerospace group currently sits at #3 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.
The Zacks Rank is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. ATI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATI's full-year earnings has moved 6.3% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
According to our latest data, ATI has moved about 41.4% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Aerospace companies have returned an average of 0.1%. As we can see, ATI is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another Aerospace stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Virgin Galactic (SPCE). The stock has returned 0.9% year-to-date.
In Virgin Galactic's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 38.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, ATI belongs to the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, a group that includes 37 individual companies and currently sits at #74 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 9.6% so far this year, so ATI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
Virgin Galactic, however, belongs to the Aerospace - Defense industry. Currently, this 29-stock industry is ranked #135. The industry has moved -3.4% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Aerospace stocks should continue to pay close attention to ATI and Virgin Galactic as they could maintain their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).