Investors interested in Aerospace stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Kratos (KTOS) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Aerospace sector should help us answer this question.
Kratos is a member of our Aerospace group, which includes 68 different companies and currently sits at #1 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. Kratos is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KTOS' full-year earnings has moved 3.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the most recent data, KTOS has returned 24.4% so far this year. At the same time, Aerospace stocks have gained an average of 9.7%. This shows that Kratos is outperforming its peers so far this year.
One other Aerospace stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Woodward (WWD). The stock is up 28.5% year-to-date.
In Woodward's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 13.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking more specifically, Kratos belongs to the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, a group that includes 37 individual stocks and currently sits at #54 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 7.6% so far this year, so KTOS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Woodward is also part of the same industry.
Investors interested in the Aerospace sector may want to keep a close eye on Kratos and Woodward as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (KTOS): Free Stock Analysis Report Woodward, Inc. (WWD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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