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Are Industrial Products Stocks Lagging Northwest Pipe Company (NWPX) 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. Is Northwest Pipe Co. (NWPX - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Northwest Pipe Co. is a member of the Industrial Products sector. This group includes 218 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #11. 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Northwest Pipe Co. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NWPX's full-year earnings has moved 14.2% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that NWPX has returned about 45.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Industrial Products sector has returned an average of 9.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Northwest Pipe Co. is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, Parker-Hannifin (PH - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 30.3%.

The consensus estimate for Parker-Hannifin's current year EPS has increased 0.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Northwest Pipe Co. is a member of the Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication industry, which includes 11 individual companies and currently sits at #212 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 17.6% so far this year, so NWPX is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Parker-Hannifin falls under the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry. Currently, this industry has 44 stocks and is ranked #172. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +9.2%.

Investors interested in the Industrial Products sector may want to keep a close eye on Northwest Pipe Co. and Parker-Hannifin as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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