Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Element Solutions (ESI) 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 Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.
Element Solutions is one of 248 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #9 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.
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. Element Solutions is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ESI's full-year earnings has moved 1.6% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that ESI has returned about 59.4% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 10.8%. As we can see, Element Solutions is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Metallus (MTUS). The stock is up 14.6% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for Metallus' current year EPS has increased 1.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Element Solutions is a member of the Chemical - Specialty industry, which includes 44 individual companies and currently sits at #109 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 10.4% so far this year, so ESI is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Metallus falls under the Steel - Speciality industry. Currently, this industry has 6 stocks and is ranked #167. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +46.9%.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Element Solutions and Metallus as they could maintain their solid performance.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).