Investors focused on the Basic Materials space have likely heard of Rio Tinto (RIO), but is the stock performing well in comparison to the rest of its sector peers? 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.
Rio Tinto is one of 236 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #3 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 model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. RIO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RIO’s full-year earnings has moved 30.75% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.
Our latest available data shows that RIO has returned about 1.43% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have lost an average of 0.20%. This means that Rio Tinto is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Looking more specifically, RIO belongs to the Mining – Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 42 individual stocks and currently sits at #60 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 8.54% so far this year, so RIO is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
RIO will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.
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