Has Caterpillar (CAT) Outpaced 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. Caterpillar (CAT) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Caterpillar is one of 187 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #7 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Caterpillar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAT's full-year earnings has moved 11.2% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, CAT has gained about 43.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have gained about 15.5% on average. This shows that Caterpillar is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another Industrial Products stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Gorman-Rupp (GRC). The stock has returned 58.1% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Gorman-Rupp's current year EPS has increased 2.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Caterpillar belongs to the Manufacturing - Construction and Mining industry, a group that includes 6 individual stocks and currently sits at #74 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 36.7% so far this year, so CAT is performing better in this area.

Gorman-Rupp, however, belongs to the Manufacturing - General Industrial industry. Currently, this 42-stock industry is ranked #79. The industry has moved +1.9% so far this year.

Going forward, investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to Caterpillar and Gorman-Rupp as they could maintain their solid performance.

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

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