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Are Basic Materials Stocks Lagging Bunge Limited (BG) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Bunge (BG - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Bunge is one of 241 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #8 within 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 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. Bunge is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BG's full-year earnings has moved 9.7% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, BG has returned 6.9% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of -3.9% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Bunge is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

SQM (SQM - Free Report) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 58.3%.

Over the past three months, SQM's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Bunge belongs to the Agriculture - Products industry, a group that includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #37 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 8.4% so far this year, so BG is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, SQM falls under the Fertilizers industry. Currently, this industry has 7 stocks and is ranked #239. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +5.7%.

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


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