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Has American Vanguard (AVD) 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. Has American Vanguard (AVD - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.

American Vanguard is one of 241 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 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 is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. American Vanguard is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVD's full-year earnings has moved 18% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the most recent data, AVD has returned 54.4% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 7.9%. This means that American Vanguard 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 Bunge (BG - Free Report) . The stock is up 20.8% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Bunge's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 27.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, American Vanguard belongs to the Chemical - Specialty industry, a group that includes 33 individual companies and currently sits at #82 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 13.3% so far this year, so AVD is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Bunge, however, belongs to the Agriculture - Products industry. Currently, this 7-stock industry is ranked #181. The industry has moved +7% so far this year.

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


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