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Is Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (RS) Outperforming Other Industrial Products Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Industrial Products stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Reliance Steel (RS - 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.

Reliance Steel is one of 219 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 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. Reliance Steel is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RS' full-year earnings has moved 6.7% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that RS has returned about 11.1% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Industrial Products companies have returned an average of -22.9%. This means that Reliance Steel is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, Twin Disc (TWIN - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 0.3%.

Over the past three months, Twin Disc's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 5.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Reliance Steel belongs to the Metal Products - Distribution industry, which includes 5 individual stocks and currently sits at #87 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 18.8% this year, meaning that RS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Twin Disc belongs to the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry. This 38-stock industry is currently ranked #169. The industry has moved -24.3% year to date.

Reliance Steel and Twin Disc could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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