Are Construction Stocks Lagging Dycom Industries This Year?

For those looking to find strong Construction stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Dycom Industries DY one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Construction sector should help us answer this question.

Dycom Industries is a member of our Construction group, which includes 91 different companies and currently sits at #3 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 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. Dycom Industries is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DY's full-year earnings has moved 12.2% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

According to our latest data, DY has moved about 61.9% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Construction sector has returned an average of 12.6% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Dycom Industries is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Grafton Group PLC GROUF is another Construction stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 89.5%.

Over the past three months, Grafton Group PLC's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Dycom Industries belongs to the Building Products - Heavy Construction industry, a group that includes 10 individual stocks and currently sits at #11 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 55.4% so far this year, so DY is performing better in this area.

Grafton Group PLC, however, belongs to the Building Products - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this 27-stock industry is ranked #67. The industry has moved +9.5% so far this year.

Dycom Industries and Grafton Group PLC could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Construction stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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