3 Stocks Pushing The Basic Materials Sector Higher

TheStreet highlights 3 stocks pushing the basic materials sector higher today.
By TheStreet Wire ,

Two out of the three major indices are trading lower today with the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

(

^DJI

) trading down 22 points (-0.1%) at 17,716 as of Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015, 11:55 AM ET. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,449 issues advancing vs. 1,474 declining with 170 unchanged.

The Basic Materials sector currently sits down 0.9% versus the S&P 500, which is down 0.1%. Top gainers within the sector include

Gold Fields

(

GFI

), up 16.1%,

Agnico Eagle Mines

(

AEM

), up 4.5%,

POSCO

(

PKX

), up 2.9%,

ArcelorMittal

(

MT

), up 2.8% and

Southern Copper

(

SCCO

), up 1.9%. On the negative front, top decliners within the sector include

Chesapeake Energy

(

CHK

), down 8.1%,

Diamondback Energy

(

FANG

), down 5.5%,

Newfield Exploration

(

NFX

), down 5.3%,

EnLink Midstream Partners

(

ENLK

), down 5.0% and

Antero Resources

(

AR

), down 4.5%.

TheStreet would like to highlight 3 stocks pushing the sector higher today:

3.

Mosaic

(

MOS

) is one of the companies pushing the Basic Materials sector higher today. As of noon trading, Mosaic is up $0.77 (2.4%) to $32.72 on light volume. Thus far, 1.4 million shares of Mosaic exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 4.6 million shares. The stock has ranged in price between $32.00-$32.95 after having opened the day at $32.00 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $31.95.

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The Mosaic Company produces and markets concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients for the agricultural industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Phosphates and Potash. The Phosphates segment owns and operates mines in Florida. Mosaic has a market cap of $10.6 billion and is part of the chemicals industry. Shares are down 30.0% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Wednesday. Currently there are 8 analysts who rate Mosaic a buy, 2 analysts rate it a sell, and 4 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates

Mosaic

as a

sell

. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its unimpressive growth in net income, poor profit margins, weak operating cash flow and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself. Get the full

Mosaic Ratings Report

now.

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2. As of noon trading,

Alcoa

(

AA

) is up $0.36 (4.3%) to $8.78 on light volume. Thus far, 11.2 million shares of Alcoa exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 32.8 million shares. The stock has ranged in price between $8.50-$8.78 after having opened the day at $8.51 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $8.41.

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Alcoa Inc. produces and manages primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Alumina, Primary Metals, Global Rolled Products, and Engineered Products and Solutions. Alcoa has a market cap of $10.8 billion and is part of the metals & mining industry. Shares are down 46.7% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Wednesday. Currently there are 5 analysts who rate Alcoa a buy, 1 analyst rates it a sell, and 5 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates

Alcoa

as a

hold

. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its reasonable valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including poor profit margins and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself. Get the full

Alcoa Ratings Report

now.

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1. As of noon trading,

BP

(

BP

) is up $0.21 (0.6%) to $35.31 on light volume. Thus far, 3.2 million shares of BP exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 8.7 million shares. The stock has ranged in price between $34.99-$35.38 after having opened the day at $35.12 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $35.10.

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BP p.l.c. operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. It operates in three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Rosneft. BP has a market cap of $104.5 billion and is part of the energy industry. Shares are down 7.9% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Wednesday. Currently there are 5 analysts who rate BP a buy, 1 analyst rates it a sell, and 6 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates

BP

as a

hold

. Among the primary strengths of the company is its solid financial position based on a variety of debt and liquidity measures that we have evaluated. At the same time, however, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and weak operating cash flow. Get the full

BP Ratings Report

now.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER: See inside Jim Cramer's multi-million dollar charitable trust portfolio to see the stocks he thinks could be potential winners. Click here to see his holdings for 14-days FREE.

If you are interested in one of these 3 stocks, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the basic materials sector could consider

Materials Select Sector SPDR

(

XLB

) while those bearish on the basic materials sector could consider

ProShares Short Basic Materials Fd

(

SBM

).

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