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Is Veritiv (VRTV) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?

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Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of Veritiv , but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

Veritiv is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 251 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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. VRTV is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTV's full-year earnings has moved 66.67% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, VRTV has gained about 199.42% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 19.54% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Veritiv is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Looking more specifically, VRTV belongs to the Paper and Related Products industry, which includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #43 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 22.70% so far this year, so VRTV is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

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

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