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Is U.S. Silica Holdings (SLCA) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?

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Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of U.S. Silica Holdings (SLCA - Free Report) , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? One simple way to answer this question is to take a look at the year-to-date performance of SLCA and the rest of the Basic Materials group's stocks.

U.S. Silica Holdings is one of 235 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #13 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 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. SLCA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for SLCA's full-year earnings has moved 25.74% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that SLCA has returned about 7.32% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 17.93% on average. This means that U.S. Silica Holdings is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

To break things down more, SLCA belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 42 individual companies and currently sits at #206 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 25.29% so far this year, meaning that SLCA is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to SLCA as it looks to continue its solid performance.


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