Yahoo Finance Is AngloGold Ashanti (AU) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?
The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. AngloGold (AU) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
AngloGold is one of 236 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #13 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 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. AngloGold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AU's full-year earnings has moved 26.5% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that AU has returned about 38% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 6.5%. This means that AngloGold is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Olympic Steel (ZEUS). The stock is up 43.7% year-to-date.
The consensus estimate for Olympic Steel's current year EPS has increased 60.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, AngloGold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 37 individual companies and currently sits at #93 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 29.3% so far this year, so AU is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
Olympic Steel, however, belongs to the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this 24-stock industry is ranked #25. The industry has moved +13% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to AngloGold and Olympic Steel as they could maintain their solid performance.
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AngloGold Ashanti Limited (AU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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