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Is Howmet Aerospace (HWM) Stock Outpacing Its Construction Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Construction stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Howmet (HWM - 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.

Howmet is a member of the Construction sector. This group includes 97 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #3. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. Howmet is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWM's full-year earnings has moved 3.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, HWM has gained about 27.7% so far this year. At the same time, Construction stocks have gained an average of 26.7%. As we can see, Howmet is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Martin Marietta (MLM - Free Report) is another Construction stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 33.7%.

The consensus estimate for Martin Marietta's current year EPS has increased 3.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Howmet belongs to the Engineering - R and D Services industry, a group that includes 21 individual companies and currently sits at #144 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 15.9% so far this year, so HWM is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Martin Marietta belongs to the Building Products - Concrete and Aggregates industry. This 8-stock industry is currently ranked #200. The industry has moved +31.4% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Construction stocks should continue to pay close attention to Howmet and Martin Marietta as they could maintain their solid performance.


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Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (MLM) - free report >>

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