Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Harmony Gold (HMY) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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 Harmony Gold (HMY - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

Harmony Gold is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 233 different companies and currently sits at #8 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Harmony Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMY's full-year earnings has moved 3.7% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, HMY has moved about 80.9% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 8.6%. This shows that Harmony Gold is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Acerinox (ANIOY - Free Report) . The stock is up 24.5% year-to-date.

For Acerinox, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Harmony Gold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #33 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 53.9% so far this year, so HMY is performing better in this area.

In contrast, Acerinox falls under the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this industry has 18 stocks and is ranked #55. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +11.9%.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Harmony Gold and Acerinox as they could maintain their solid performance.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (HMY) - free report >>

Acerinox (ANIOY) - free report >>

Published in