Is Belden (BDC) Outperforming Other Industrial Products Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Belden (BDC) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.

Belden is one of 222 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 in 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 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. Belden is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BDC's full-year earnings has moved 2.3% 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 BDC has returned about 27.8% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Industrial Products stocks have gained an average of 11.2%. As we can see, Belden is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Caterpillar (CAT) is another Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 16.9%.

Over the past three months, Caterpillar's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 12.3%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Belden belongs to the Wire and Cable Products industry, which includes 3 individual stocks and currently sits at #48 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 20% so far this year, so BDC is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Caterpillar belongs to the Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry. This 7-stock industry is currently ranked #3. The industry has moved +18.5% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to Belden and Caterpillar as they could maintain their solid performance.

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