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Is CalMaine Foods (CALM) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Cal-Maine Foods (CALM - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Cal-Maine Foods is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 240 different companies and currently sits at #12 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. Cal-Maine Foods is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CALM's full-year earnings has moved 19.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that CALM has returned about 6.4% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have gained about 2.6% on average. This means that Cal-Maine Foods is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Novozymes A/S (NVZMY - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 4.3%.

In Novozymes A/S's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 2.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Cal-Maine Foods belongs to the Agriculture - Products industry, a group that includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #97 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 1.4% this year, meaning that CALM is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Novozymes A/S falls under the Chemical - Specialty industry. Currently, this industry has 33 stocks and is ranked #65. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +9.3%.

Cal-Maine Foods and Novozymes A/S 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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