Is CF Industries Holdings (CF) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

CF

Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of CF Industries Holdings (CF - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.

CF Industries Holdings is one of 250 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #14 within 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 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. CF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CF's full-year earnings has moved 12.38% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, CF has gained about 3.10% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have lost an average of 12.30%. This shows that CF Industries Holdings is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Looking more specifically, CF belongs to the Fertilizers industry, a group that includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #11 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.41% so far this year, so CF is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors in the Basic Materials sector will want to keep a close eye on CF as it attempts to continue its solid performance.

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