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Are Aerospace Stocks Lagging Heico (HEI) This Year?

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Investors interested in Aerospace stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Is Heico Corporation (HEI - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? 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.

Heico Corporation is one of 58 individual stocks in the Aerospace sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #5 in 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. Heico Corporation is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HEI's full-year earnings has moved 3.4% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the most recent data, HEI has returned 31.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Aerospace group have gained about 27.8% on average. This means that Heico Corporation is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Aerospace sector, Howmet (HWM - Free Report) , has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 64%.

For Howmet, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.7% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Heico Corporation belongs to the Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry, a group that includes 33 individual companies and currently sits at #144 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 28% so far this year, so HEI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Howmet, however, belongs to the Aerospace - Defense industry. Currently, this 24-stock industry is ranked #53. The industry has moved +27.8% so far this year.

Heico Corporation and Howmet could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Aerospace stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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