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Is Gerdau (GGB) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

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The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Gerdau (GGB - Free Report) 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.

Gerdau is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 242 different companies and currently sits 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 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. Gerdau is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for GGB's full-year earnings has moved 14.6% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that GGB has returned about 23% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 12.6%. As we can see, Gerdau is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Univar , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 19.2%.

In Univar's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 34.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Gerdau is a member of the Steel - Producers industry, which includes 23 individual companies and currently sits at #39 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 17.1% so far this year, meaning that GGB is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Univar, however, belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry. Currently, this 40-stock industry is ranked #155. The industry has moved -4.7% so far this year.

Gerdau and Univar could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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