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Are Construction Stocks Lagging EMCOR Group (EME) This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Construction stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Emcor Group (EME - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Construction sector should help us answer this question.

Emcor Group is one of 88 individual stocks in the Construction sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 in 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. Emcor Group is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EME's full-year earnings has moved 3.5% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, EME has gained about 35.3% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Construction group have gained about 14.8% on average. This means that Emcor Group is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Knife River (KNF - Free Report) is another Construction stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 18.6%.

In Knife River's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 3.3% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Emcor Group belongs to the Building Products - Heavy Construction industry, a group that includes 8 individual companies and currently sits at #52 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 37.4% so far this year, so EME is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Knife River falls under the Building Products - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 33 stocks and is ranked #191. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +2.8%.

Going forward, investors interested in Construction stocks should continue to pay close attention to Emcor Group and Knife River as they could maintain their solid performance.

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