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 SSR Mining (SSRM) 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.

SSR Mining is one of 232 individual stocks in the Basic Materials sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #8 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 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. SSR Mining is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SSRM's full-year earnings has moved 18.1% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

According to our latest data, SSRM has moved about 47.3% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Basic Materials sector has returned an average of 3.6% on a year-to-date basis. This means that SSR Mining is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Another Basic Materials stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is Franco-Nevada (FNV). The stock has returned 44.7% year-to-date.

Over the past three months, Franco-Nevada's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 0.4%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Breaking things down more, SSR Mining is a member of the Mining - Miscellaneous industry, which includes 58 individual companies and currently sits at #147 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 3.8% this year, meaning that SSRM is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Franco-Nevada falls under the Mining - Gold industry. Currently, this industry has 39 stocks and is ranked #62. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +46.3%.

Going forward, investors interested in Basic Materials stocks should continue to pay close attention to SSR Mining and Franco-Nevada as they could maintain their solid performance.

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

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