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Is Bunge (BG) Outperforming 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. Is Bunge (BG - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Bunge is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 252 different companies and currently sits at #10 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Bunge is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BG's full-year earnings has moved 36.1% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that BG has returned about 43.7% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 8.5%. This means that Bunge is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is CF Industries (CF - Free Report) . The stock is up 67.9% year-to-date.

In CF Industries' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 13.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Bunge belongs to the Agriculture - Products industry, a group that includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #61 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 32% so far this year, so BG is performing better in this area.

CF Industries, however, belongs to the Fertilizers industry. Currently, this 7-stock industry is ranked #6. The industry has moved +39.9% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Bunge and CF Industries as they could maintain their solid performance.


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