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Is Mueller Water Products (MWA) 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. Is Mueller Water Products (MWA - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Industrial Products peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Mueller Water Products is one of 227 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #3 within 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. Mueller Water Products is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MWA's full-year earnings has moved 3.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, MWA has moved about 9.4% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Industrial Products companies have returned an average of 4.9%. This means that Mueller Water Products is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Napco (NSSC - Free Report) is another Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 30.5%.

The consensus estimate for Napco's current year EPS has increased 16.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Mueller Water Products belongs to the Steel - Pipe and Tube industry, which includes 4 individual stocks and currently sits at #54 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 2.4% so far this year, meaning that MWA is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

Napco, however, belongs to the Security and Safety Services industry. Currently, this 20-stock industry is ranked #35. The industry has moved +2.8% so far this year.

Mueller Water Products and Napco 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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