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Has VALE (VALE) Outpaced Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?

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The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. VALE (VALE - 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 VALE and the rest of the Basic Materials group's stocks.

VALE is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 240 different companies and currently sits at #4 in 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 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. VALE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for VALE's full-year earnings has moved 57.43% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, VALE has gained about 7.52% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 11.50%. This shows that VALE is outperforming its peers so far this year.

To break things down more, VALE belongs to the Mining - Iron industry, a group that includes 2 individual companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 11.91% this year, meaning that VALE is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

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


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