The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Kinross Gold (KGC) 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.

Kinross Gold is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 235 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #12. 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 successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Kinross Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for KGC's full-year earnings has moved 20.3% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

According to our latest data, KGC has moved about 56.2% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of -2.1%. As we can see, Kinross Gold is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 146.4%.

In Rayonier Advanced Materials' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 77.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, Kinross Gold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 38 individual stocks and currently sits at #21 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 14.3% so far this year, so KGC is performing better in this area.

On the other hand, Rayonier Advanced Materials belongs to the Paper and Related Products industry. This 11-stock industry is currently ranked #192. The industry has moved +40.7% year to date.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Kinross Gold and Rayonier Advanced Materials as they could maintain their solid performance.

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