Investors interested in Construction stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Armstrong World Industries (AWI) 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.

Armstrong World Industries is one of 88 companies in the Construction group. The Construction group currently sits at #13 within 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. Armstrong World Industries is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for AWI's full-year earnings has moved 0.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, AWI has moved about 5.8% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Construction sector has returned an average of 0% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, Armstrong World Industries is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Acuity Brands (AYI) is another Construction stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 8.3%.

Over the past three months, Acuity Brands' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, Armstrong World Industries belongs to the Building Products - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 27 individual companies and currently sits at #90 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 4% this year, meaning that AWI is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Acuity Brands belongs to the Building Products - Lighting industry. This 3-stock industry is currently ranked #90. The industry has moved +8.2% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Construction stocks should continue to track Armstrong World Industries and Acuity Brands. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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