Has Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) Outpaced Other Industrial Products Stocks This Year?

The Industrial Products group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Industrial Products sector should help us answer this question.Kaiser Aluminum is one of 187 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #9 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 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. Kaiser Aluminum is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KALU's full-year earnings has moved 26.5% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.Based on the latest available data, KALU has gained about 26.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have gained about 6.9% on average. As we can see, Kaiser Aluminum is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.One other Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is MSC Industrial (MSM). The stock is up 13.9% year-to-date.Over the past three months, MSC Industrial's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.7%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Looking more specifically, Kaiser Aluminum belongs to the Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication industry, a group that includes 7 individual stocks and currently sits at #14 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 20.2% this year, meaning that KALU is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. In contrast, MSC Industrial falls under the Industrial Services industry. Currently, this industry has 18 stocks and is ranked #183. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -0.7%.Kaiser Aluminum and MSC Industrial could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (KALU): Free Stock Analysis Report MSC Industrial Direct Company, Inc. (MSM): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks