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Is Uranium Energy (UEC) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers 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. Uranium Energy (UEC - 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 Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

Uranium Energy is one of 230 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #15 within 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 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. Uranium Energy is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for UEC's full-year earnings has moved 170% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, UEC has moved about 68.6% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 8.7% on average. As we can see, Uranium Energy is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products (USAP - 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 147.3%.

In Universal Stainless & Alloy Products' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 15.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Uranium Energy belongs to the Mining - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 54 individual companies and currently sits at #91 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 11.5% so far this year, so UEC is performing better in this area.

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, however, belongs to the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this 18-stock industry is ranked #93. The industry has moved +29.8% so far this year.

Uranium Energy and Universal Stainless & Alloy Products 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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