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Are Industrial Products Stocks Lagging Hillenbrand (HI) This Year?

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The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Hillenbrand (HI - 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? 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.

Hillenbrand is one of 221 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #1 within 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Hillenbrand is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HI's full-year earnings has moved 4.9% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, HI has moved about 5.7% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Industrial Products companies have returned an average of -8.3%. As we can see, Hillenbrand is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Industrial Products stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is MRC Global (MRC - Free Report) . The stock has returned 5% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, MRC Global's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 17.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Hillenbrand belongs to the Industrial Services industry, a group that includes 23 individual companies and currently sits at #58 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 21.5% so far this year, so HI is performing better in this area.

In contrast, MRC Global falls under the Steel - Pipe and Tube industry. Currently, this industry has 4 stocks and is ranked #18. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +45.6%.

Investors interested in the Industrial Products sector may want to keep a close eye on Hillenbrand and MRC Global as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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