For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Iamgold (IAG) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.
Iamgold is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 241 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #14. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
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. Iamgold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for IAG's full-year earnings has moved 15.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Our latest available data shows that IAG has returned about 240.1% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 32.5%. This shows that Iamgold is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Salzgitter AG (SZGPY), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 203.8%.
For Salzgitter AG, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 47.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Iamgold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 41 individual companies and currently sits at #42 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 159.7% this year, meaning that IAG is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Salzgitter AG, however, belongs to the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this 18-stock industry is ranked #157. The industry has moved +47.7% so far this year.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Iamgold and Salzgitter AG as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Salzgitter AG (SZGPY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
