Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Hecla Mining (HL) one of those stocks right now? 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.
Hecla Mining is one of 253 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #2 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.
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. Hecla Mining is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HL's full-year earnings has moved 54% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Based on the most recent data, HL has returned 47.2% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 45.7%. This means that Hecla Mining is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Silvercorp (SVM), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 46.8%.
For Silvercorp, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 33.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Breaking things down more, Hecla Mining is a member of the Mining - Silver industry, which includes 9 individual companies and currently sits at #36 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 261.3% so far this year, so HL is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Silvercorp belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. This 73-stock industry is currently ranked #45. The industry has moved +48.6% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Hecla Mining and Silvercorp as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Hecla Mining Company (HL): Free Stock Analysis Report Silvercorp Metals Inc. (SVM): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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