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Are Industrial Products Stocks Lagging A. O. Smith (AOS) 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. A.O. Smith (AOS - 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.

A.O. Smith is one of 218 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. A.O. Smith is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AOS' full-year earnings has moved 0% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, AOS has moved about 6.5% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have gained about 5.9% on average. This shows that A.O. Smith is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Donaldson (DCI - Free Report) is another Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 10.5%.

For Donaldson, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, A.O. Smith belongs to the Manufacturing - Electronics industry, which includes 16 individual stocks and currently sits at #26 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 17.9% this year, meaning that AOS is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

Donaldson, however, belongs to the Pollution Control industry. Currently, this 10-stock industry is ranked #82. The industry has moved +16.2% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to A.O. Smith and Donaldson as they could maintain their solid performance.


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