The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Aperam (APEMY) 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 Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.
Aperam is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 279 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. 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. Aperam is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APEMY's full-year earnings has moved 43.5% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the latest available data, APEMY has gained about 35.6% so far this year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 20.3%. This shows that Aperam is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Materion (MTRN). The stock has returned 96.5% year-to-date.
For Materion, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 10% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, Aperam belongs to the Steel - Producers industry, a group that includes 17 individual companies and currently sits at #79 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 48.7% so far this year, so APEMY is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Materion belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. This 89-stock industry is currently ranked #184. The industry has moved +29.6% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Aperam and Materion as they could maintain their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).