Is AeroVironment (AVAV) Stock Outpacing Its Aerospace Peers This Year?

TDG AVAV

The Aerospace group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. AeroVironment (AVAV - 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Aerospace sector should help us answer this question.

AeroVironment is a member of our Aerospace group, which includes 48 different companies and currently sits at #9 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 model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. AeroVironment is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVAV's full-year earnings has moved 0.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, AVAV has moved about 33.8% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Aerospace companies have returned an average of -11.4%. As we can see, AeroVironment is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Aerospace sector, TransDigm Group (TDG - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 29.9%.

For TransDigm Group, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, AeroVironment belongs to the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, a group that includes 21 individual companies and currently sits at #92 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 3.3% so far this year, so AVAV is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. TransDigm Group is also part of the same industry.

Investors interested in the Aerospace sector may want to keep a close eye on AeroVironment and TransDigm Group as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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