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Is Air Products and Chemicals (APD) 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. Has Air Products and Chemicals (APD - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Air Products and Chemicals is one of 248 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #10 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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 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. Air Products and Chemicals is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APD's full-year earnings has moved 0.5% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, APD has moved about 19.3% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 16.6%. As we can see, Air Products and Chemicals is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Energy Fuels (UUUU - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 41.1%.

For Energy Fuels, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 57.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Air Products and Chemicals belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry, a group that includes 29 individual companies and currently sits at #203 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 32.3% so far this year, meaning that APD is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Energy Fuels falls under the Mining - Non Ferrous industry. Currently, this industry has 9 stocks and is ranked #152. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +28%.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Air Products and Chemicals and Energy Fuels as they could maintain their solid performance.

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