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Is Mueller Water Products (MWA) Outperforming Other Industrial Products Stocks This Year?

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Investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. 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 219 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #12 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 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. Mueller Water Products is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MWA's full-year earnings has moved 17.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, MWA has gained about 43.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have gained about 9.7% on average. This means that Mueller Water Products is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Industrial Products stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Northwest Pipe Co. (NWPX - Free Report) . The stock has returned 41.9% year-to-date.

For Northwest Pipe Co. the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 14.2% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Mueller Water Products belongs to the Steel - Pipe and Tube industry, a group that includes 4 individual companies and currently sits at #178 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 5.3% so far this year, so MWA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Northwest Pipe Co. falls under the Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication industry. Currently, this industry has 12 stocks and is ranked #166. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +15.1%.

Mueller Water Products and Northwest Pipe Co. 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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