Is CF Industries (CF) Stock Outpacing Its Basic Materials Peers This Year?

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Investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has CF Industries (CF) 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 Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

CF Industries is one of 235 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #14 within 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 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. CF Industries is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CF's full-year earnings has moved 19.2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that CF has returned about 9.2% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have lost an average of 0.3%. This means that CF Industries is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Coeur Mining (CDE). The stock is up 90.2% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Coeur Mining's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 45.2%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, CF Industries belongs to the Fertilizers industry, a group that includes 8 individual stocks and currently sits at #75 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 13.8% this year, meaning that CF is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Coeur Mining falls under the Mining - Non Ferrous industry. Currently, this industry has 12 stocks and is ranked #88. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +23.1%.

CF Industries and Coeur Mining 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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