The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has CF Industries (CF) been one of those stocks this year? 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.
CF Industries is one of 275 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. CF Industries is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CF's full-year earnings has moved 59.6% 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, CF has gained about 48.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 6.8% on average. This shows that CF Industries is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Methanex (MEOH). The stock has returned 15.7% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for Methanex's current year EPS has increased 123.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, CF Industries is a member of the Fertilizers industry, which includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #73 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 9.8% so far this year, so CF is performing better in this area.
Methanex, however, belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry. Currently, this 31-stock industry is ranked #112. The industry has moved +17.9% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to CF Industries and Methanex as they could maintain their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).