The Basic Materials group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has AngloGold Ashanti (AU) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Basic Materials peers, we might be able to answer that question.

AngloGold Ashanti is a member of our Basic Materials group, which includes 232 different companies and currently sits at #15 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. AngloGold Ashanti is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AU's full-year earnings has moved 39.5% 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 AU has returned about 27.1% since the start of the calendar year. In comparison, Basic Materials companies have returned an average of 5.5%. This means that AngloGold Ashanti is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

SSR Mining (SSRM) is another Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 45.1%.

For SSR Mining, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 70% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, AngloGold Ashanti is a member of the Mining - Gold industry, which includes 40 individual companies and currently sits at #69 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 17.6% this year, meaning that AU is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, SSR Mining falls under the Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Currently, this industry has 59 stocks and is ranked #164. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +3.4%.

AngloGold Ashanti and SSR Mining could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.

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

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