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Has Bunge (BG) 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. 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 247 different companies and currently sits at #5 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 is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics 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 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BG's full-year earnings has moved 25.5% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, BG has gained about 5.6% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 4.6%. This means that Bunge is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

SQM (SQM - Free Report) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 10.3%.

For SQM, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 37.1% 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 #67 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 3.3% so far this year, so BG is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, SQM belongs to the Fertilizers industry. This 7-stock industry is currently ranked #4. The industry has moved +0.5% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track Bunge and SQM. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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