For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Klabin SA (KLBAY) 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? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Basic Materials sector should help us answer this question.

Klabin SA is one of 233 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #14 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Klabin SA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KLBAY's full-year earnings has moved 23.7% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, KLBAY has gained about 5.9% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 4.5%. As we can see, Klabin SA is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Ingevity (NGVT). The stock is up 11% year-to-date.

For Ingevity, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 29% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Klabin SA belongs to the Paper and Related Products industry, which includes 10 individual stocks and currently sits at #89 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 4.4% this year, meaning that KLBAY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Ingevity falls under the Chemical - Specialty industry. Currently, this industry has 33 stocks and is ranked #178. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +5.8%.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Klabin SA and Ingevity as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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