For those looking to find strong Oils-Energy stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Equinor (EQNR) 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 Oils-Energy sector should help us answer this question.
Equinor is a member of the Oils-Energy sector. This group includes 254 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #2. 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 model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Equinor is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EQNR's full-year earnings has moved 18.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that EQNR has returned about 90.5% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Oils-Energy companies have returned an average of 41%. As we can see, Equinor is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Galp Energia SGPS SA (GLPEY) is another Oils-Energy stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 49.6%.
In Galp Energia SGPS SA's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 39.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Equinor belongs to the Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry, a group that includes 15 individual stocks and currently sits at #5 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 159.4% so far this year, so EQNR is slightly underperforming its industry in this area. Galp Energia SGPS SA is also part of the same industry.
Equinor and Galp Energia SGPS SA could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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Equinor ASA (EQNR): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).