For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Has Buenaventura (BVN) 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.

Buenaventura is one of 232 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 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 proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Buenaventura is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for BVN's full-year earnings has moved 19% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Our latest available data shows that BVN has returned about 13.7% since the start of the calendar year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 9.4%. This shows that Buenaventura is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Basic Materials sector, Gold Fields (GFI), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 45.5%.

The consensus estimate for Gold Fields' current year EPS has increased 2.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

To break things down more, Buenaventura belongs to the Mining - Silver industry, a group that includes 9 individual companies and currently sits at #44 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have gained about 18.6% so far this year, so BVN is slightly underperforming its industry this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

Gold Fields, however, belongs to the Mining - Gold industry. Currently, this 40-stock industry is ranked #60. The industry has moved +25.6% so far this year.

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

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