Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Commercial Metals (CMC) 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.
Commercial Metals is one of 240 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 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 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. Commercial Metals is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMC's full-year earnings has moved 11.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Based on the most recent data, CMC has returned 25.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 22.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Commercial Metals is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Fresnillo PLC (FNLPF) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 255.8%.
Over the past three months, Fresnillo PLC's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 50.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Commercial Metals is a member of the Steel - Producers industry, which includes 18 individual companies and currently sits at #169 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 31.2% so far this year, meaning that CMC is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Fresnillo PLC falls under the Mining - Silver industry. Currently, this industry has 9 stocks and is ranked #5. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +102.6%.
Commercial Metals and Fresnillo PLC 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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Commercial Metals Company (CMC): Free Stock Analysis Report Fresnillo PLC (FNLPF): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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