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Are Industrial Products Stocks Lagging Caterpillar (CAT) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Industrial Products stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Caterpillar (CAT - 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.

Caterpillar is one of 222 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #3 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 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. Caterpillar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAT's full-year earnings has moved 2.4% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that CAT has returned about 23% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Industrial Products companies have returned an average of 11.8%. This shows that Caterpillar is outperforming its peers so far this year.

DISCO CORP (DSCSY - 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 50.1%.

In DISCO CORP's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Caterpillar belongs to the Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry, which includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #63 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 22.5% so far this year, so CAT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

DISCO CORP, however, belongs to the Manufacturing - Material Handling industry. Currently, this 3-stock industry is ranked #26. The industry has moved +6.4% so far this year.

Investors with an interest in Industrial Products stocks should continue to track Caterpillar and DISCO CORP. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.


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