Are Aerospace Stocks Lagging Astronics (ATRO) This Year?

The Aerospace group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Astronics Corporation (ATRO) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Aerospace sector should help us answer this question.

Astronics Corporation is one of 54 individual stocks in the Aerospace sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #1 in the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. Astronics Corporation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATRO's full-year earnings has moved 16.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that ATRO has returned about 108% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Aerospace stocks have gained an average of 20.8%. This means that Astronics Corporation is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Aerospace stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Bae Systems PLC (BAESY). The stock has returned 83.6% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Bae Systems PLC's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Astronics Corporation belongs to the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, a group that includes 27 individual stocks and currently sits at #49 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 19.8% this year, meaning that ATRO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Bae Systems PLC is also part of the same industry.

Astronics Corporation and Bae Systems PLC could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Aerospace stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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

Zacks Investment Research

Source Zacks-com