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Is Veritiv (VRTV) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers 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 Veritiv one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Veritiv is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 241 different companies and currently sits at #3 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTV's full-year earnings has moved 31% higher within the past quarter. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, VRTV has gained about 26.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 6.7% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Veritiv is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is United States Steel (X - Free Report) . The stock has returned 7.1% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for United States Steel's current year EPS has increased 24.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Veritiv belongs to the Paper and Related Products industry, which includes 13 individual stocks and currently sits at #34 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 2.9% so far this year, so VRTV is performing better in this area.

In contrast, United States Steel falls under the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this industry has 24 stocks and is ranked #23. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +20.8%.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track Veritiv and United States Steel. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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