The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Kennametal (KMT) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.
Kennametal is one of 182 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #9 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
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. Kennametal is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KMT's full-year earnings has moved 51.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the latest available data, KMT has gained about 34.9% so far this year. In comparison, Industrial Products companies have returned an average of 13.7%. As we can see, Kennametal is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, Karat Packing (KRT), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 27.4%.
For Karat Packing, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 23.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Kennametal belongs to the Manufacturing - Tools & Related Products industry, which includes 8 individual stocks and currently sits at #94 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1% so far this year, meaning that KMT is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Karat Packing belongs to the Containers - Paper and Packaging industry. This 10-stock industry is currently ranked #175. The industry has moved -2.2% year to date.
Kennametal and Karat Packing could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).