The Oils-Energy group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Natural Gas Services (NGS) 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 Oils-Energy sector should help us answer this question.
Natural Gas Services is a member of our Oils-Energy group, which includes 245 different companies and currently sits at #9 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 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. Natural Gas Services is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NGS' full-year earnings has moved 9.5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that NGS has returned about 10.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Oils-Energy group have gained about 7.3% on average. This shows that Natural Gas Services is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another stock in the Oils-Energy sector, OMV AG (OMVKY), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 50%.
The consensus estimate for OMV AG's current year EPS has increased 2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Natural Gas Services is a member of the Oil and Gas - Mechanical and and Equipment industry, which includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #22 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 6.1% this year, meaning that NGS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, OMV AG falls under the Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry. Currently, this industry has 17 stocks and is ranked #149. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +12.6%.
Going forward, investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should continue to pay close attention to Natural Gas Services and OMV AG as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NGS): Free Stock Analysis Report OMV AG (OMVKY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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