Is Ashland Global Holdings (ASH) 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. Ashland Global Holdings (ASH) 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of ASH and the rest of the Basic Materials group's stocks.
Ashland Global Holdings is one of 239 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 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 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. ASH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASH's full-year earnings has moved 3.73% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the most recent data, ASH has returned 20.01% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have lost about 4.27% on average. This means that Ashland Global Holdings is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Looking more specifically, ASH belongs to the Chemical - Specialty industry, a group that includes 30 individual stocks and currently sits at #232 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 1.87% so far this year, meaning that ASH is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to ASH as it looks to continue its solid performance.
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