For those looking to find strong Basic Materials stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) 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? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Agnico Eagle Mines is a member of the Basic Materials sector. This group includes 232 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #11. 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. Agnico Eagle Mines is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEM's full-year earnings has moved 9.6% higher within the past quarter. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

Based on the latest available data, AEM has gained about 55.4% so far this year. At the same time, Basic Materials stocks have gained an average of 1.8%. This means that Agnico Eagle Mines is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

One other Basic Materials stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year is Salzgitter AG (SZGPY). The stock is up 54.3% year-to-date.

For Salzgitter AG, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 325% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking more specifically, Agnico Eagle Mines belongs to the Mining - Gold industry, a group that includes 39 individual stocks and currently sits at #149 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 52.2% this year, meaning that AEM is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Salzgitter AG falls under the Steel - Producers industry. Currently, this industry has 18 stocks and is ranked #65. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -3.5%.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to Agnico Eagle Mines and Salzgitter AG as they could maintain their solid performance.

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Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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