Is Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) Outperforming Other Industrial Products Stocks This Year?

For those looking to find strong Industrial Products stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 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.

Applied Industrial Technologies is one of 186 companies in the Industrial Products group. The Industrial Products group currently sits at #7 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 is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Applied Industrial Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AIT's full-year earnings has moved 1.8% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the latest available data, AIT has gained about 26.1% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Industrial Products sector has returned an average of 14.4% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Applied Industrial Technologies is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another Industrial Products stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Atkore Inc. (ATKR). The stock has returned 48.9% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Atkore Inc.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 8.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Applied Industrial Technologies belongs to the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry, which includes 41 individual stocks and currently sits at #70 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 0.8% so far this year, so AIT is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Atkore Inc. belongs to the Wire and Cable Products industry. This 2-stock industry is currently ranked #104. The industry has moved +47.5% year to date.

Applied Industrial Technologies and Atkore Inc. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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

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