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Are Industrial Products Stocks Lagging Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 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. Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT - 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 Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.

Applied Industrial Technologies is one of 222 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #2 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 emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. Applied Industrial Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AIT's full-year earnings has moved 0.8% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, AIT has returned 6.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have gained about 5.6% on average. This means that Applied Industrial Technologies is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Atmus Filtration Technologies (ATMU - 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 29%.

For Atmus Filtration Technologies, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 10.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Applied Industrial Technologies belongs to the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry, a group that includes 44 individual companies and currently sits at #69 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 5.9% so far this year, so AIT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Atmus Filtration Technologies belongs to the Pollution Control industry. This 10-stock industry is currently ranked #37. The industry has moved +11.7% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to Applied Industrial Technologies and Atmus Filtration Technologies as they could maintain their solid performance.


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