The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) 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 Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.
Kaiser Aluminum is a member of our Industrial Products group, which includes 181 different companies and currently sits at #6 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).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KALU's full-year earnings has moved 15.3% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that KALU has returned about 47.5% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Industrial Products sector has returned an average of 11.4% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Kaiser Aluminum is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
One other Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Valmont Industries (VMI). The stock is up 25.8% year-to-date.
For Valmont Industries, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Kaiser Aluminum belongs to the Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication industry, which includes 6 individual stocks and currently sits at #21 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 13.7% so far this year, so KALU is performing better in this area.
Valmont Industries, however, belongs to the Steel - Pipe and Tube industry. Currently, this 2-stock industry is ranked #29. The industry has moved +52.3% so far this year.
Investors with an interest in Industrial Products stocks should continue to track Kaiser Aluminum and Valmont Industries. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.
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Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (KALU): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).