The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has EMX Royalty Corp. (EMX) been one of those stocks this year? 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.

EMX Royalty Corp. is one of 238 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #14 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.

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. EMX Royalty Corp. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for EMX's full-year earnings has moved 66.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that EMX has returned about 83.2% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 13.7% on a year-to-date basis. As we can see, EMX Royalty Corp. is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Hecla Mining (HL). The stock has returned 51.5% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Hecla Mining's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 68.8%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, EMX Royalty Corp. is a member of the Mining - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 64 individual companies and currently sits at #150 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 15.6% so far this year, so EMX is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Hecla Mining falls under the Mining - Silver industry. Currently, this industry has 10 stocks and is ranked #14. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +45.9%.

Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on EMX Royalty Corp. and Hecla Mining as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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EMX Royalty Corp. (EMX):Free Stock Analysis Report

Hecla Mining Company (HL):Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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