The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Barrick Gold (B) 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? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Barrick Gold is one of 232 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 in 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. Barrick Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for B's full-year earnings has moved 15.3% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, B has returned 17.4% so far this year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 6.4%. This means that Barrick Gold is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Compass Minerals (CMP), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 71.1%.

In Compass Minerals' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 28.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, Barrick Gold is a member of the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 39 individual companies and currently sits at #13 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 39.1% this year, meaning that B is slightly underperforming its industry in terms of year-to-date returns.

Compass Minerals, however, belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry. Currently, this 28-stock industry is ranked #202. The industry has moved -14.6% so far this year.

Barrick Gold and Compass Minerals could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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Barrick Mining Corporation (B):Free Stock Analysis Report

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (CMP):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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