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Is U.S. Silica Holdings (SLCA) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks 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. Is Silica Holdings one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Silica Holdings is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 239 different companies and currently sits at #14 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Silica Holdings is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SLCA's full-year earnings has moved 37.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that SLCA has returned about 56.2% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have lost an average of 8.3%. This means that Silica Holdings is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, SQM (SQM - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 78.6%.

In SQM's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 81.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Silica Holdings belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 46 individual stocks and currently sits at #217 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 8.3% this year, meaning that SLCA is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, SQM falls under the Fertilizers industry. Currently, this industry has 7 stocks and is ranked #155. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +29.6%.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Silica Holdings and SQM as they could maintain their solid performance.


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