Is Fastenal (FAST) Stock Outpacing Its Industrial Products Peers This Year?

Investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Fastenal (FAST) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Fastenal is a member of the Industrial Products sector. This group includes 179 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #7. 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 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. Fastenal is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FAST's full-year earnings has moved 0.2% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Based on the latest available data, FAST has gained about 10.8% so far this year. At the same time, Industrial Products stocks have gained an average of 7.5%. This means that Fastenal is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Mueller Water Products (MWA) is another Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 17.1%.

In Mueller Water Products' 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, Fastenal belongs to the Industrial Services industry, a group that includes 16 individual companies and currently sits at #233 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has lost an average of 3.1% so far this year, so FAST is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Mueller Water Products belongs to the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry. This 43-stock industry is currently ranked #84. The industry has moved +4.4% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Industrial Products stocks should continue to track Fastenal and Mueller Water Products. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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