Yahoo Finance Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging Nucor (NUE) This Year?
Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Nucor (NUE) 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.
Nucor is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 236 different companies and currently sits at #12 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. Nucor is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NUE's full-year earnings has moved 32.1% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.
Our latest available data shows that NUE has returned about 14.6% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 8.5%. This means that Nucor is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.
Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Royal Gold (RGLD). The stock has returned 23.7% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, Royal Gold's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Breaking things down more, Nucor is a member of the Steel - Producers industry, which includes 24 individual companies and currently sits at #15 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 22.2% so far this year, meaning that NUE is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Royal Gold falls under the Mining - Gold industry. Currently, this industry has 37 stocks and is ranked #106. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +21.9%.
Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on Nucor and Royal Gold as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Nucor Corporation (NUE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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