For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is New Gold (NGD) one of those stocks right now? 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.

New Gold is one of 235 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #10 within the Zacks Sector Rank. 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. New Gold is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NGD's full-year earnings has moved 24.2% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

Our latest available data shows that NGD has returned about 10.1% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Basic Materials group have lost about 8.9% on average. As we can see, New Gold is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Methanex (MEOH). The stock is up 0.5% year-to-date.

In Methanex's case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 4.1% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

To break things down more, New Gold belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 40 individual companies and currently sits at #76 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 15.7% so far this year, so NGD is slightly underperforming its industry in this area.

On the other hand, Methanex belongs to the Chemical - Diversified industry. This 28-stock industry is currently ranked #230. The industry has moved -10.2% year to date.

Investors with an interest in Basic Materials stocks should continue to track New Gold and Methanex. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance.

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