Is Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) Outperforming Other Industrial Products Stocks This Year?

The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) 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? 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.

Kaiser Aluminum is a member of our Industrial Products group, which includes 179 different companies and currently sits at #7 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 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. Kaiser Aluminum is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KALU's full-year earnings has moved 9.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that KALU has returned about 22.4% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Industrial Products companies have returned an average of 19.3%. This means that Kaiser Aluminum is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, Tenaris S.A. (TS), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 28.4%.

In Tenaris S.A.'s case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 1.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Kaiser Aluminum belongs to the Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication industry, a group that includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #12 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 10.8% so far this year, so KALU is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Tenaris S.A. falls under the Steel - Pipe and Tube industry. Currently, this industry has 2 stocks and is ranked #6. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +23.6%.

Going forward, investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to Kaiser Aluminum and Tenaris S.A. as they could maintain their solid performance.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research