The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Harmony Gold (HMY) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Harmony Gold is one of 235 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #12 in 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 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. Harmony Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMY's full-year earnings has moved 16.7% higher within the past quarter. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that HMY has returned about 63.3% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 5.5%. This means that Harmony Gold is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Cabot (CBT), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 35.8%.

For Cabot, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 3.8% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Harmony Gold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 38 individual stocks and currently sits at #31 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 29.3% so far this year, so HMY is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Cabot falls under the Chemical - Diversified industry. Currently, this industry has 29 stocks and is ranked #181. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +2.2%.

Investors interested in the Basic Materials sector may want to keep a close eye on Harmony Gold and Cabot as they attempt to continue their solid performance.

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Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (HMY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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