Investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Nordson (NDSN) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Nordson is a member of our Industrial Products group, which includes 181 different companies and currently sits at #5 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 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. Nordson is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NDSN's full-year earnings has moved 2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that NDSN has returned about 17.9% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Industrial Products sector has returned an average of 16% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Nordson is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Ranpak Holdings Corp (PACK). The stock is up 20.3% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Ranpak Holdings Corp's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 26.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Nordson belongs to the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry, a group that includes 41 individual stocks and currently sits at #89 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 6.7% this year, meaning that NDSN is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Ranpak Holdings Corp falls under the Containers - Paper and Packaging industry. Currently, this industry has 10 stocks and is ranked #195. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -1.8%.
Investors interested in the Industrial Products sector may want to keep a close eye on Nordson and Ranpak Holdings Corp as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).