For those looking to find strong Industrial Products stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Powell Industries (POWL) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Powell Industries is one of 213 individual stocks in the Industrial Products sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #15 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Powell Industries is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for POWL's full-year earnings has moved 10.1% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that POWL has returned about 189.3% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Industrial Products group have gained about 12% on average. This shows that Powell Industries is outperforming its peers so far this year.

One other Industrial Products stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Zurn Water (ZWS). The stock is up 36% year-to-date.

For Zurn Water, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 2.5% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Powell Industries belongs to the Manufacturing - Electronics industry, a group that includes 16 individual companies and currently sits at #148 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, this group has gained an average of 20.8% so far this year, meaning that POWL is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. Zurn Water is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Industrial Products stocks should continue to pay close attention to Powell Industries and Zurn Water as they could maintain their solid performance.

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