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Is Belden (BDC) Stock Outpacing Its Industrial Products Peers This Year?

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The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Belden (BDC - Free Report) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? 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.

Belden is a member of our Industrial Products group, which includes 228 different companies and currently sits at #7 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 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. Belden is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BDC's full-year earnings has moved 5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Our latest available data shows that BDC has returned about 0.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have lost about 15.7% on average. This means that Belden is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, W.W. Grainger (GWW - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 10.5%.

The consensus estimate for W.W. Grainger's current year EPS has increased 6.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Belden is a member of the Wire and Cable Products industry, which includes 2 individual companies and currently sits at #1 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 14.4% this year, meaning that BDC is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

W.W. Grainger, however, belongs to the Industrial Services industry. Currently, this 24-stock industry is ranked #161. The industry has moved -19.8% so far this year.

Belden and W.W. Grainger could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) - free report >>

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