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Is Northrop Grumman (NOC) Stock Outpacing Its Aerospace Peers 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? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of NOC and the rest of the Aerospace group's stocks.

Northrop Grumman is a member of the Aerospace sector. This group includes 37 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #1. 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 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. NOC 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 2.46% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, NOC has returned 31.14% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Aerospace sector has returned an average of 26.63% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Northrop Grumman is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, NOC belongs to the Aerospace - Defense industry, which includes 12 individual stocks and currently sits at #67 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 22.99% so far this year, meaning that NOC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors with an interest in Aerospace stocks should continue to track NOC. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.


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