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Is Northrop Grumman (NOC) Outperforming Other Aerospace Stocks This Year?

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The Aerospace group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Northrop Grumman (NOC - 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.

Northrop Grumman is one of 46 individual stocks in the Aerospace sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 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. Northrop Grumman is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOC's full-year earnings has moved 2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, NOC has moved about 5.4% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Aerospace group have gained about 1.9% on average. This shows that Northrop Grumman is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Aerospace sector, RTX (RTX - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 38.7%.

For RTX, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Northrop Grumman belongs to the Aerospace - Defense industry, a group that includes 22 individual companies and currently sits at #59 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 2.9% so far this year, meaning that NOC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. RTX is also part of the same industry.

Investors with an interest in Aerospace stocks should continue to track Northrop Grumman and RTX. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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