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Has Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (RS) Outpaced Other Industrial Products Stocks This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Industrial Products stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Reliance Steel (RS - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.

Reliance Steel is one of 229 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #5 within 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 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. Reliance Steel is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RS' full-year earnings has moved 62.2% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that RS has returned about 18.8% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Industrial Products companies have returned an average of -11.1%. This means that Reliance Steel is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, Hudson Technologies (HDSN - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 41.2%.

For Hudson Technologies, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 225% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Reliance Steel belongs to the Metal Products - Distribution industry, a group that includes 6 individual companies and currently sits at #20 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 8.5% so far this year, meaning that RS is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Hudson Technologies, however, belongs to the Industrial Services industry. Currently, this 24-stock industry is ranked #160. The industry has moved -22% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to Reliance Steel and Hudson Technologies as they could maintain their solid performance.


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