Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging Veritiv (VRTV) This Year?
Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Veritiv (VRTV) 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.
Veritiv is one of 240 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Veritiv is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTV's full-year earnings has moved 15.2% 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 VRTV has returned about 2.5% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 1.1%. As we can see, Veritiv is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Olympic Steel (ZEUS), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 47.3%.
In Olympic Steel's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 60.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, Veritiv belongs to the Paper and Related Products industry, a group that includes 14 individual companies and currently sits at #200 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 10.1% so far this year, so VRTV is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
On the other hand, Olympic Steel belongs to the Steel - Producers industry. This 22-stock industry is currently ranked #15. The industry has moved +12.7% year to date.
Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Veritiv and Olympic Steel as they could maintain their solid performance.
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Veritiv Corporation (VRTV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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