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Is Compass Minerals International (CMP) Outperforming Other Basic Materials Stocks This Year?

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The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Compass Minerals (CMP - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

Compass Minerals is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 238 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #12. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

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. Compass Minerals is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMP's full-year earnings has moved 25% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that CMP has returned about 77.2% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 8.8%. As we can see, Compass Minerals is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Posco (PKX - Free Report) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 26%.

Over the past three months, Posco's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Compass Minerals belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry, a group that includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #235 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 16.8% this year, meaning that CMP is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Posco belongs to the Steel - Producers industry. This 19-stock industry is currently ranked #208. The industry has moved +18.4% year to date.

Compass Minerals and Posco 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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