For those looking to find strong Aerospace stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Astronics Corporation (ATRO) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Aerospace sector should help us answer this question.
Astronics Corporation is a member of our Aerospace group, which includes 67 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. Astronics Corporation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATRO's full-year earnings has moved 6.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the latest available data, ATRO has gained about 37% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Aerospace sector has returned an average of 6.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Astronics Corporation is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another Aerospace stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is BWX Technologies (BWXT). The stock has returned 34.7% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for BWX Technologies' current year EPS has increased 8.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Astronics Corporation belongs to the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, a group that includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #142 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 6.6% so far this year, so ATRO is performing better in this area. BWX Technologies is also part of the same industry.
Going forward, investors interested in Aerospace stocks should continue to pay close attention to Astronics Corporation and BWX Technologies as they could maintain their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).