The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Hecla Mining (HL) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.
Hecla Mining is one of 241 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 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 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. Hecla Mining is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HL's full-year earnings has moved 25.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
According to our latest data, HL has moved about 297% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 31.1% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Hecla Mining is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Paladin Energy (PALAF) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 37.4%.
In Paladin Energy's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 100% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Hecla Mining belongs to the Mining - Silver industry, a group that includes 9 individual stocks and currently sits at #176 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 186.3% so far this year, so HL is performing better in this area.
In contrast, Paladin Energy falls under the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 69 stocks and is ranked #162. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +37%.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Hecla Mining and Paladin Energy as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Hecla Mining Company (HL): Free Stock Analysis Report Paladin Energy Ltd. (PALAF): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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