Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Avient (AVNT) 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 Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.
Avient is one of 294 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.
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. Avient is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVNT's full-year earnings has moved 4% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the most recent data, AVNT has returned 24.8% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 9.5% on average. This shows that Avient is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Innospec (IOSP). The stock has returned 26.2% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Innospec's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Avient belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry, a group that includes 32 individual stocks and currently sits at #183 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 13.1% so far this year, so AVNT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Innospec is also part of the same industry.
Avient and Innospec could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).