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Is Bunge Limited (BG) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Bunge (BG - 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Bunge is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 242 different companies and currently sits at #13 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 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).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BG's full-year earnings has moved 9.7% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, BG has moved about 3.6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of -3.5% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Bunge is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

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 68.3%.

The consensus estimate for SQM's current year EPS has increased 1.5% 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, which includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #150 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has lost an average of 8.7% so far this year, meaning that BG is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

SQM, however, belongs to the Fertilizers industry. Currently, this 7-stock industry is ranked #216. The industry has moved -31.9% so far this year.

Bunge and SQM could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.


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