Yahoo Finance Is Harmony Gold (HMY) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?
The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Harmony Gold (HMY) 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.
Harmony Gold is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 240 different companies and currently sits at #2 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
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. Harmony Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMY's full-year earnings has moved 29.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the most recent data, HMY has returned 42.6% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have lost an average of 3.3%. As we can see, Harmony Gold is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Mercer International (MERC) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 5.2%.
Over the past three months, Mercer International's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 27%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Harmony Gold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #48 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 8.2% so far this year, so HMY is performing better in this area.
On the other hand, Mercer International belongs to the Paper and Related Products industry. This 12-stock industry is currently ranked #7. The industry has moved +5% year to date.
Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on Harmony Gold and Mercer International as they attempt to continue their solid performance.
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Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (HMY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Mercer International Inc. (MERC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
