For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is AngloGold Ashanti (AU) one of those stocks right now? 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.
AngloGold Ashanti is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 236 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #4. 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. AU is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AU’s full-year earnings has moved 5.43% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock’s earnings outlook is improving.
Our latest available data shows that AU has returned about 35.05% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 2.50% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, AngloGold Ashanti is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Looking more specifically, AU belongs to the Mining – Gold industry, which includes 31 individual stocks and currently sits at #52 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 48.17% this year, meaning that AU is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.
Investors in the Basic Materials sector will want to keep a close eye on AU as it attempts to continue its solid performance.
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