For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Dundee Precious Metals Inc. (DPMLF) 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? 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.

Dundee Precious Metals Inc. is one of 232 companies in the Basic Materials group. The Basic Materials group currently sits at #14 within 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 proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Dundee Precious Metals Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past three months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for DPMLF's full-year earnings has moved 10.8% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, DPMLF has moved about 57.3% on a year-to-date basis. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 1.4%. This means that Dundee Precious Metals Inc. is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Newmont Corporation (NEM). The stock is up 50.3% year-to-date.

The consensus estimate for Newmont Corporation's current year EPS has increased 10% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Dundee Precious Metals Inc. belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #157 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 54.9% so far this year, so DPMLF is performing better in this area. Newmont Corporation is also part of the same industry.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Dundee Precious Metals Inc. and Newmont Corporation as they could maintain their solid performance.

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Dundee Precious Metals Inc. (DPMLF) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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