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

Royal Gold is one of 234 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 groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

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. Royal Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RGLD's full-year earnings has moved 7.6% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Our latest available data shows that RGLD has returned about 10.9% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of -12% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Royal Gold is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Vizsla Silver Corp. (VZLA), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 36.8%.

Over the past three months, Vizsla Silver Corp.'s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 28.9%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Royal Gold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #78 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 6.2% so far this year, so RGLD is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

On the other hand, Vizsla Silver Corp. belongs to the Mining - Silver industry. This 9-stock industry is currently ranked #36. The industry has moved +17.3% year to date.

Royal Gold and Vizsla Silver Corp. could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Royal Gold, Inc. (RGLD) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Vizsla Silver Corp. (VZLA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research