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Is Veritiv (VRTV) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Veritiv 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 Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

Veritiv is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 251 different companies and currently sits at #7 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

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).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTV's full-year earnings has moved 45.56% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that VRTV has returned about 281.87% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 9.08% on average. This means that Veritiv is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

To break things down more, VRTV belongs to the Paper and Related Products industry, a group that includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #35 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 17.21% so far this year, so VRTV is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track VRTV. The stock will be looking to continue its solid performance.

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