Investors interested in Construction stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has James Hardie (JHX) 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 Construction sector should help us answer this question.
James Hardie is one of 92 companies in the Construction group. The Construction group currently sits at #16 within 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. James Hardie is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for JHX's full-year earnings has moved 11.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that JHX has returned about 17.5% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Construction companies have returned an average of 16.6%. As we can see, James Hardie is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
One other Construction stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is MasTec (MTZ). The stock is up 20.3% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for MasTec's current year EPS has increased 0.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, James Hardie belongs to the Building Products - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 34 individual stocks and currently sits at #171 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 12% so far this year, so JHX is performing better in this area.
In contrast, MasTec falls under the Building Products - Heavy Construction industry. Currently, this industry has 9 stocks and is ranked #87. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +24.1%.
Investors interested in the Construction sector may want to keep a close eye on James Hardie and MasTec as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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James Hardie Industries PLC. (JHX): Free Stock Analysis Report MasTec, Inc. (MTZ): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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