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. Astronics Corporation (ATRO) 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.

Astronics Corporation is a member of our Aerospace group, which includes 64 different companies and currently sits 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 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. 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 10% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the most recent data, ATRO has returned 200.1% so far this year. In comparison, Aerospace companies have returned an average of 29.1%. This means that Astronics Corporation is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Aerospace stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Elbit Systems (ESLT). The stock is up 90.5% year-to-date.

In Elbit Systems' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Astronics Corporation is a member of the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, which includes 38 individual companies and currently sits at #80 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 29.4% so far this year, so ATRO is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns. Elbit Systems is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Aerospace stocks should continue to pay close attention to Astronics Corporation and Elbit Systems 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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