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Are Industrial Products Stocks Lagging A. O. Smith (AOS) 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. Is A.O. Smith (AOS - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

A.O. Smith is a member of our Industrial Products group, which includes 215 different companies and currently sits at #11 in 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 model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. A.O. Smith is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AOS' full-year earnings has moved 5.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, AOS has moved about 25% on a year-to-date basis. At the same time, Industrial Products stocks have gained an average of 3.1%. This shows that A.O. Smith is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Industrial Products sector, Brady (BRC - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 13.2%.

For Brady, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 12.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, A.O. Smith is a member of the Manufacturing - Electronics industry, which includes 16 individual companies and currently sits at #165 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 13.5% so far this year, so AOS is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Brady falls under the Security and Safety Services industry. Currently, this industry has 19 stocks and is ranked #51. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -9.6%.

Investors interested in the Industrial Products sector may want to keep a close eye on A.O. Smith and Brady as they attempt to continue their solid performance.


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